


Lovers Across Space

by Raider867



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Action & Romance, Asari Characters, F/M, Izuku Leaves Earth, Krogans (Mass Effect), Quarians (Mass Effect), Salarians (Mass Effect), Turians (Mass Effect)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:02:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27844936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raider867/pseuds/Raider867
Summary: Izuku enjoys looking at the stars in the sky. It's the only quiet moment in his otherwise harsh life. Little does he know that there are more than just stars up there. There are worlds and people the likes of which he's never dreamed of. And a chance encounter with one of them leads Izuku into an adventure no human could imagine.
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Garrus Vakarian, Midoriya Izuku & Urdnot Wrex, Midoriya Izuku/Tali'Zorah nar Rayya
Comments: 228
Kudos: 114





	1. Spacing Out

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to the first chapter of this new fic! You may be staring at the chapter length and going "WAIT A MINUTE, WHAT?!"  
> Not to worry! This is a special case! I was trying to do something different for first chapters. I tried making it like a pilot episode, so this is not the definitive chapter length. It's a mainline chapter, after all. The only reason I was able to give this chapter its long length is because I started this last week just because of how excited I was to post it!  
> Now, you Mass Effect otakus have probably already seen some discrepancies within this fic. I was never intending this to perfectly represent the Mass Effect world. For example, I decided to make Tali's father a bit softer than he is. Still strict in Tali's older years, yet still soft on the inside.  
> Additionally, to those curious, there will be four major arcs. The Prelude(Which is currently happening), ME1 Arc, ME2 Arc, and ME3 Arc. I will not reveal why they're called them, so feel free to speculate in the comments!  
> And now a message to those who don't know Mass Effect! You will not be alienated here! I will try to explain everything in this story as it comes up, if not in the fic's contents through Tali or someone else, then in comments when someone asks about it.  
> Finally! A Message to MyOwn2Cents: I hope you enjoy this fic and can stick around!
> 
> To everyone else: ENJOY!

“Mom! Mom! Can I go out in the backyard and watch the stars?” 

Izuku Midoriya, a green haired, green-eyed boy no older than four years old ran towards his mother, a slim, green haired woman wearing a salmon sweater and a blue skirt. The woman giggled softly as she looked down at her son, crouching down to his level.

“As long as you’re safe, you can. And remember the rule.”

Izuku nodded.

“If I hear growling or rustling in the bushes, I run back to the house!” Izuku exclaimed with a proud smile.

Inko Midoriya giggled, patting her son’s head.

“That’s exactly right. I will be on the deck, so if you yell out when you run back, I’ll hear you and be right there.”

“Okay!”

Izuku gave one final grin to his mother before he rushed out the back door.

_________________________________________

Izuku rushed through the trees of his backyard, stopping once he reached a small clearing, allowing the light of the moon and stars above to shine down through the treeline. He looked up into the sky and smiled as his eyes went from star to star.

“Woah! There’s so many tonight!” 

He laid down onto his back, continuing to stare up at the stars. He gasped as he saw a shooting star.

“Space is so cool! I hope I have a quirk that can let me go into space!” he said to himself, a hopeful smile on his face.

As he was focused on the sky, he had yet to realize a figure was approaching. It was wearing a full-body suit, with their legs bowed backwards, leading to a pair of three-toed boots. Three fingers were on each of their hands and a purple hooded tunic covered their torso. Finally, coming out of the hood was a grey helmet with a purple visor that showed nothing but two glowing eyes. The visor went from the top of the mouthplate to the top of their head.

The figure’s eyes widened as they caught sight of the green haired boy laying in the grass. After a few moments of observation, the figure spoke.

“Srok ti’eirlun sa?” The young female voice that spoke had a digitized filter to it, with a circle on the front of the mouthplate lighting up every time they said a new word. 

Izuku jumped as he heard it, rolling to his feet with a fear-stricken face. As soon as his eyes landed on the young female and took in the features of their body, his eyes widened and his fear immediately melted away into curiosity.

“Woaaaahhhhh! That quirk is so cool! What’s your name?”

The girl, who looked only slightly smaller than Izuku, tilted her head slightly, her illuminated eyes blinking once.

“Trak na’ruum?”

Izuku tilted his head slightly, a curious frown adorning his face.

“What are you saying?”

As the girl was about to speak again, an older, more masculine voice cut her off.

“Tali! Vranaak iruun tal-tan?”

Izuku watched the girl turn to a much taller figure in a suit similar to hers. Instead of a purple hooded tunic, however, this one wore armored plating over their chest, shoulders, and biceps, with a light layer of padding on their arms and hands. They had the same three-fingered hands and three-toed feet and had a more masculine build. The last noticeable difference was the helmet, which was much longer, along with a more defined circular mouthpiece which flashed as he spoke.

Izuku watched as the two of them spoke, not understanding a single word of what was said. All he could see was the body language that the two had. 

The young girl had an excited and cheerful posture, hopping on her feet slightly as she talked, pointing what seemed like her index finger at him while nodding her head. Meanwhile, the man had his hands on his hips and shook his head while speaking, gesturing to her, then to him, and finally to an unknown location deeper into the forest of trees.

The girl raised her hands to her helmet’s mouthplate, fingers closed into a three-fingered fist as she hopped a bit more rapidly, repeating the same word. The man sighed, shaking his head once before speaking a reply. The girl jumped into the air, shooting her hands into the sky as she shouted in celebration.

Izuku’s curiosity outweighed the logical thinking in his mind, watching with curious interest as the man walked towards Izuku. His eyes widened in interest as a holographic gauntlet formed over the man’s hand, the man pressing his finger into the hologram’s circular graphic on the hand.

“A-ahem!”

Izuku’s gaze shifted to the girl, who was facing him again. She placed her hand on her chest.

“Tali.”

Izuku’s eyes widened before he gave her a beaming smile. He pointed to himself.

“Izuku!”

The man stopped beside him before kneeling down and pressing his finger into the hologram again.

“What are you doing?” Izuku asked in curiosity, looking at the hologram with interest.

“Vak-nala akan tru na- mind is complete and he should be able to understand us with the Omni-Tool now.”

Izuku jumped, stepping back once in surprise.

“I can understand you!”

The man laughed.

“And we can now understand you,” he said as he stood up.

“Thank you, father!” Tali chirped in an accent similar to Eastern Europeans.

Izuku glanced back at the girl, who waved when he looked at her.

“So, what did you say before?” Tali asked.

Izuku’s expression brightened up.

“I said your quirk is so cool!”

“Quirk?” Tali tilted her head.

“We don’t know what you mean by ‘quirk’, young man,” the man, Tali’s father, said.

“Why not? Quirks are everywhere.”

“It’s because we aren’t from here!” Tali chirped, her glowing eyes closing to slits as she hopped twice on her toes.

“Tali! Don’t say that so openly,” her father scolded.

“Not from here? Where are you from then?”

Tali pointed to the sky, tilting her head slightly. Izuku followed her finger into the sky, where his eyes widened. He looked down with an excited grin.

“You’re from outer space?!”

Tali nodded while her father sighed, placing a hand on his helmet’s visor, shaking his head.

“Yeah I am! I’m a Quarian!”

“Woah! That’s so cool! Can we be friends?!”

Tali gasped.

“Yeah! We can!”

Tali’s father, Rael’Zorah chuckled, watching the two of them descend into excited conversation. Hearing a beeping on his Omni-Tool, he pressed a holographic button on it.

_ “Did you find Tali?” _

Rael nodded.

“Yeah, I did. She’s currently playing with a native of the planet.”

_ “We were found?” _

“No, Tali was too curious and introduced herself. He couldn’t understand us, but with my experimental translation program, I was able to scan his mind and-”

_ “Honey, you know that my field is in mechanics. Don’t try and confuse me.” _

Rael chuckled.

“I love you too, darling. Anyways, how are the repairs to the ship?”

_ “It should be repaired in an hour.” _

“Alright. I’ll keep watch over Tali and the native. He said his name was Izuku. Looks about as young as Tali.”

_ “I bet Tali’s excited to be meeting a new species.” _

Rael chuckled again.

“You have no idea.”

_ “You’ll have to introduce me when I’m finished with the repairs.” _

“I’ll leave the locator on my Omni-Tool active for when you want to meet him.”

_ “Understood.” _

____________________

“So you can’t live without your suit?”

“Mmm-mmm,” Tali replied, shaking her head. “My immune system is very weak, so if I did, I would become deathly sick.”

“Your immu… That thing. What is it?”

“Um… Hmm… It… Oh! It keeps you from getting sick!”

“Oooohhhhh!” Izuku nodded.

“So this is the Izuku I was told about.”

Izuku and Tali looked over to the edge of the clearing, spotting another Quarian walking into the clearing, this time more feminine, with a skinny torso leading down to wide hips. Her suit was less armored than Rael’s, having only protective padding instead of full-on armor plating. In addition to her suit, she had a dark red hood over the back of her helmet and shoulders.

“Hello, Mother!”

“Who’s your friend?”

Izuku snapped out of his surprise with a shake of his head, standing straight.

“My name is Izuku Midoriya! Pleased to meet you!” Izuku bowed.

Tali’s mother chuckled.

“My, what a polite little boy.”

“Well, Tali, we’ll have to get going now.”

“Aww! Why?”

“We have to get back to the Migrant Fleet. The information we have needs to be seen by the Admiralty.”

Tali whined before pausing.

“Can you wait for one more minute?” she pleaded.

Rael chuckled.

“Very well. One minute.”

Tali turned to Izuku, a smile on her face only noticed by the slightly squinting eyes in her helmet.

“Let’s take a picture!”

“Okay!” Izuku said with a smile.

A similar holographic gauntlet that Rael had appeared on her arm, only much smaller, allowing her to press a couple buttons in it and holding her hand out. She wrapped her other arm around Izuku’s shoulders with Izuku happily doing the same and smiling.

“Smile at the Omni-Tool!”

“Okay!”

Izuku smiled brightly at the circular part of the hologram that was over Tali’s hand. The center of it blinked once and his new friend pulled her hand back. Izuku’s eyes widened in amazement as the forearm of the gauntlet projected a 2D image of her and Izuku. 

“Woah!”

“Okay Tali, we need to go.”

Tali sighed, her shoulders drooping and her excitement disappearing. She sighed as she glanced at Izuku, noticing his saddened expression as well. She tapped his shoulder, getting his attention again.

“Will I see you again?” he asked.

“Yeah, I promise to see you again.”

“Pinky promise?”

“P-pinky?” Tali asked.

Izuku gave her a smile as he extended his pinky finger. He took her hand and curled her two fingers, leaving the bottom of the two fingers extended. He curled his pinky finger around hers.

“This is a pinky promise. Mama says that if you make a pinky promise, the universe makes it so that promise is kept.”

“Oh! Okay!”

Tali curled her finger tighter around Izuku’s pinky.

“Pinky promise!” Tali chirped with a smile.

She broke the hold and hugged him tightly once before running to her parents. Turning, she shared a wave with Izuku before disappearing with her parents. Izuku remained in the clearing, staring up at the sky and waiting. After a few minutes, he saw a flying object shooting into the sky. His smile returned as he waved up at the object, hopping on the balls of his feet.

“I can’t wait to see you again!”

_________________________________________

“Why can’t I see you again…?” Izuku muttered.

Izuku, now a fifteen-year-old boy stared up at the night sky with hopeless eyes. Every time he breathed in, pain filled his chest as the bruises made themselves known.

“If you just came back… I’d ask to leave with you… It… It hurts so much…” Tears formed on his eyes as he stared up into space. “I don’t want to be here… I don’t want to get hurt every day…”

Above him, a shooting star flew through the night sky. Catching it, Izuku closed his eyes.

“I wish… I wish I could see you again… Tali…”

After a few minutes of silence, he sighed. His shoulders drooped as his head lowered.

“Of course… Making a wish on the star doesn’t work…”

Turning around, he trudged back inside the house. The smells of his mother’s cooking filled his nostrils but he didn’t care. Instead, he went to his room, closing the door behind him before letting himself fall on to the bed with closed eyes. Opening them after releasing a depressed sigh, he looked over at his nightstand. Instantly he froze, frowning slightly.

Sitting up, his eyes remained on a silver half-sphere that was resting on the center of the nightstand’s top. 

_ ‘That wasn’t there before…’ _

Hesitantly, he reached forward, touching the object with his index before pulling back. It was cold to the touch as well as very smooth. Nothing happened when he touched it, prompting him to take it in his hands. He looked all around the object, from the rounded top to the black base.

“What is this…” Izuku mumbled.

Suddenly, the top of the half-sphere split open, surprising Izuku as he dropped the object accidentally. Waiting a moment before grabbing it again, he lifted it and placed it on his nightstand, watching it with suspicious eyes. Suddenly, a hologram appeared about the size of his alarm clock. His eyes widened as he gazed upon the familiar appearance of a Quarian suit.

_ “Hey Izuku!” _

Izuku’s heart fluttered as he heard the digitized voice.

_ ‘It’s Tali…’ _

_ “Sorry for taking so long to contact you again, it’s been a rough ten years. Father has been working me to the bone, making me learn everything I can to help the Flotilla. I only have enough time in my day to record this message for you.”  _

Tali’s hands fidgeted as she spoke, her form swaying slightly as she looked away from the camera. She shook her head a moment after she stopped speaking.

_ “Anyways! I thought, if I couldn’t come to you yet, maybe I could send you something. So I used what I could to construct a simple hologram projector. On this, there’s two things. This message, and a picture…” _ Tali paused, looking down and to the side as she held her arms behind her back, swaying slightly as her voice softened.  _ “I haven’t forgotten about that pinky promise we made… I’m sorry it’s taking so long, but… As you said, the universe will make sure I keep my promise.” _

Izuku found himself tearing up as he kept staring at the image of the much older Tali. 

_ “Well, anyway, uh… I don’t really know how to end this… I hope you’re doing well! I hope you haven’t forgotten about me!”  _ Tali chuckled shyly.  _ “And I hope you like this gift!” _

Following the message ending, the picture changed. Izuku’s teary eyes widened as he saw the picture of him and Tali as young children. Izuku was smiling brightly into the camera while a small squint was in Tali’s glowing eyes. 

He took the device in his hands, looking at the picture for a few more moments before he hugged it to his chest, smiling through his tears.

_ ‘This is the greatest gift ever…’ _

_________________________________________

“Be safe on your Pilgrimage, Tali. Do not risk your life over what you choose to come back with. No piece of Geth technology or special ship is worth your life to me,” Rael said, hugging his daughter.

“Thank you, Father. I will not let you down,” Tali said, withdrawing from the hug.

“If you can, make sure you check in with me from time to time. I want to know my child is safe.”

“I will,” Tali said with a nod.

The two shared a moment of silence before Rael cleared his throat. 

“I… Know I’ve been distant… And very hard on you. But-”

“I know, Father. And you don’t have to apologize. I hope your research gets us to the homeworld sooner.”

Rael nodded, looking down at the ground.

“I hope so, too… I hope so too…” He shook his head. “Anyway, you should get going. Don’t let me keep you any longer.”

“Goodbye.”

“Be safe, Tali. Keelah se’lai.”

With a nod, Tali turned around and walked away from her father, walking through the airlock and into her ship. Her surroundings went from white walls to dark grey ones, the barest of amenities present in the small ship. To her right was the front of the ship, occupied by a small cockpit with a pilot and co-pilot seat. To her left was the living area and cargo hold, equipped with a refrigerator, table, and couch. Past the small living area was a staircase leading to the cargo hold and rear hatch. 

She walked through the small hallway between the cockpit and living area and found the only sleeping quarters on the ship. Pressing the button on the door, it split open, revealing a small living quarters with a small desk, a bed, and a door leading to the bathroom. 

She sighed.

“It’s not much, but it’s a start,” she said with a nod. 

Turning and walking out of her quarters, she went over and sat down in the pilot seat. Pressing a few buttons, the airlock shut and the ship detached from the docking port. As she steered the ship away from the Quarian Flotilla, she stared out into space with determination in her eyes.

“I’m coming, Izuku. I will see you soon.”

_________________________________________

_ ‘I want this pain to end…’ _

Izuku, now eighteen years old, was walking down a sidestreet in the afternoon sun, wearing a black gakuen and loosely holding his school bag over his shoulder. He had a noticeable limp in his walk and his eyes were locked onto the ground. 

Wincing at the movement, he reached into his bag, taking out the silver half-sphere that had become his source of comfort for years. Pressing the center, it opened to reveal the holographic projection of him and Tali.

“I want to see you again… To leave with you… I just don’t want to be here anymore…”

While watching the picture, he resumed limping through the street. After a few moments of silence, he heard a familiar voice off to his right.

“Izuku?”

Izuku’s eyes widened, stopping in his tracks as he looked towards the source of the voice. Out of the shadow of an alleyway, Tali walked out, wearing in a dark blue, padded bodysuit. Her right arm was clad in a solid, rounded piece of armored plating, separated at the elbow to allow movement. A single hose wrapped around her arm from the bicep to the forearm. Her left arm only had the blue bodysuit along with a bicep-mounted utility pack. Her hips and thighs were covered with a light purple cloth held in place by a brown belt. Her grey, three-toed boots had pieces of armor mounted on them, as well as a knife strapped to her left boot. 

Izuku looked back up to her dark purple-hooded head, tearing up at the sight of her.

“T-Tali…?”

“Izuku!”

She ran at him, stopping in front of him and holding his biceps, drawing a pained grunt from Izuku. She looked all over his body with wide eyes.

“Keelah, what happened to you? Who did this to you?”

“I-it’s… N-nothing…”

“That is a total lie! You’re hurting, Izuku! Look at you!”

Izuku’s chest clenched as he heard the worry in Tali’s voice. He looked away.

“I… I just…” he trailed off.

Tali watched his expression change to sorrowful.

_ ‘I shouldn’t have pushed…’ _

She shook her head.

“You don’t have to tell me, Izuku. How about we go someplace else? We can catch up. I can tell you about what I’ve been doing on the Flotilla.”

“Okay…”

The weak voice Izuku had used made her chest clench. Moving behind him and placing her hands on his shoulders, she squeezed them once before gently guiding him along.

____________________

“This planet is very beautiful,” Tali said, looking at the forest in front of her. “Living in a ship for all your life, you don’t get the chance to see worlds as full of life as this one.”

“It’s… Not too great…” Izuku said, shaking his head.

Tali looked to her side, where Izuku was sitting on a nearby bench and staring out at the forest with depressed eyes. She sat next to him, watching his eyes continually stare into the trees.

“What do you mean?”

Izuku’s expression changed to a rueful smile.

“The people are terrible. You may think you have friends, but… As soon as they discover you aren’t like the others… They just change… Like… Like Kacchan… And all my other friends from elementary school… Even teachers…”

Tali placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“Are they the reason you’re so hurt?”

Izuku slowly nodded.

“I just… I wanted to be their friends…” Izuku choked out, tears forming in his eyes. “It… It’s not my fault I’m quirkless!”

Tali pulled Izuku into a hug instantly.

_ ‘I may be overstepping myself after so long of not seeing him, but I have to do this. I want him to feel better.’ _

Izuku wrapped his arms around her back and cried into her shoulder. The two remained there for a while as Izuku vented his sorrow. When he calmed down enough to get a good grip on his composure, he pulled back, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry… I was just…”

“It’s okay, Izuku. We’re friends, aren’t we?” Tali asked, tilting her head.

Izuku smiled slightly as he heard the smile in her voice. He nodded.

“Yeah… Yeah we are… Thank you… Even after so long… I’m glad you still remembered me… And… Wanted to be friends…”

Tali giggled.

“Of course I did. Being a friend of a new species has its benefits, especially being the first person to actually meet said species,” she joked, tilting her head left and looking away for a moment before looking back at Izuku again as she tilted her head right.

Izuku chuckled lightly in response, nodding once. Tali joined in on the laughter before both of them descended into silence once more.

“So… How is it back where you live?”

“The Flotilla is holding together, thankfully. My father’s been working me really hard to learn as much as I could to better help them when I come back from my Pilgrimage. Speaking of which, that’s what I’m doing right now!”

“Oh! That’s great!... Uh… What’s a Pilgrimage?”

“A Pilgrimage is a rite of passage into adulthood for a Quarian. It’s a way for us to experience the galaxy outside the Migrant Fleet and learn to appreciate life among our own people. Usually before we leave, we are given gifts to aid us on our journey. Like, um… a ship, maybe a personal defense weapon, immuno-boosters, anything that could help us survive on our own for a span of time. We can’t return to our fleet until we have found something of value that would help the Flotilla as a whole. When we return, we present the item to a new ship captain whose crew we want to join. The gift can be rejected, but that’s a very rare occurrence.”

“Wow…” Izuku muttered.

“Uh… Izuku?”

“Yeah?”

“How do you have a… thing in your hands?”

“Oh, a notebook?”

“Notebook?”

“Yeah, you don’t have those?”

“No, we don’t.” Tali shook her head.

“Well, partnered with a writing tool like this pencil, I can write notes down or log different things.”

“Oh, so like our datalogs.”

“I think so,” Izuku said with a nod.

“That’s interesting!”

Izuku smiled shyly.

“So what were you writing?”

Izuku blushed.

“W-well… I-uh… I was writing what you were saying… It’s… Interesting to me…”

Tali felt her cheeks heat up slightly inside her helmet, her eyes darting around.

“O-oh…” she cleared her throat. “Um… I didn’t really think you were interested in that… I thought you might find it boring… After all, it’s just a culture of a spacefaring species, not really a-”

She paused as she heard the pencil writing on the paper again. 

“U-uh… Izuku?”

“H-huh?!” Izuku jumped.

Tali couldn’t hold in the laughter that escaped her after his outburst.

“Whaaaaatttt…?” Izuku whined, hiding his face with his notebook.

“What the fuck?”

Izuku froze, flinching heavily as the gravelly voice of his tormentor, Katsuki Bakugo, hit his ears. Tali caught the feared look in his eyes as she turned towards the source of the voice.

“Who the fuck is this,  _ Deku _ ?” Bakugo snapped as he walked over with two other boys. 

Both of Bakugo’s friends wore cocky, higher-than-thou expressions that irritated Tali as she glanced at them. All three of them were wearing black gakuens just like Izuku. Bakugo looked Tali up and down with a judgemental edge.

“Who the fuck is Space Suit?”

“Sh-she’s just a fr-friend…” Izuku mumbled.

“Bah! Friend? Who would want to be friends with a quirkless freak like you?” Bakugo turned to address Tali again with a grimace. “Do yourself a favor and ditch this quirkless loser. He’ll only drag you down.”

Bakugo gave an evil grin when he saw Izuku’s crestfallen expression.

“No.”

Izuku froze for a moment before looking up at Tali. Bakugo was less surprised than Izuku, his face morphing into anger.

“The fuck did you just say?”

“Oh, did you lose your hearing from listening to yourself talk?” Tali asked in a cutesy voice.

Bakugo’s eye twitched before he opened his palm, letting an explosion burst from his palm into the air. Tali, surprisingly, didn’t flinch.

_ ‘Did that kid just make an explosion out of his palm?!?!’ _ Tali screamed in her head.  _ ‘No, focus Tali. Ask Izuku later. For now, protect him. That does explain the burn marks on him and his clothes, though.’ _

“So you’re the one who hurt Izuku.”

“So fuckin’ what?” Bakugo spat.

“I don’t like it when my friends are hurt,” she snapped back.

“Oh boo-fuckin-hoOO!”

Bakugo fell onto his butt as an electric shock spread through his body. As Bakugo processed what happened, he spotted an orange holographic ball floating in front of Tali.

“Go for the optics, Chatika!”

The orb floated forward on Tali’s command. Bakugo looked to his cronies, whose eyes were wide with fear. 

“The fuck you two extras doing? It’s just a fucking ball!”

Bakugo regretted his statement a moment later when three bolts of electricity shot off of the ball’s surface and hit all three of the boys in the eyes, sending the two standing to the ground while Bakugo recoiled so hard his head hit the ground.

“Agh! You fucking bitch! I’ll kill you for this!” Bakugo shouted as he stood up, covering his eyes.

Without another word, he turned and ran off, gritting his teeth as he did.

“W-wait! Bakugoooooooo!!” the cronies shouted as they chased after Bakugo.

Izuku kept staring at Tali as she stood proudly while watching them escape.

_ ‘That’ll teach you to hurt him, you bosh’tet.’ _

She glanced over at Izuku and saw him stare at her in admiration. Instantly she felt her cheeks heat up as she looked away, reaching her left hand behind her back and holding onto her right bicep.

“U-uh… Are you okay?” Tali asked.

Izuku’s eyes widened and his face erupted in a blush.

“Y-Yeah! I-I-I am!” Izuku shouted, looking away.

Tali felt herself smile softly.

“Good…” Tali said with a sigh.

“Thank… Thank you… For… Protecting me…”

Tali smiled in her helmet, nodding once.

“I’m happy to help….” She looked in the direction Bakugo and his cronies ran off. “Have you told anyone about this?”

Izuku looked down with a depressed expression.

“Nobody would listen to a quirkless kid…”

“So that thing that guy, Bakugo, did… That was those quirks you told me about?”

“Yeah… I’m surprised you actually remembered that.”

Tali chuckled.

“I have a good memory.”

Izuku smiled shyly for a moment before looking down again.

“Listen, Tali… I… I know I might be asking a lot, but… Could I come with you?”

Tali’s glowing eyes widened.

“What?”

“I want to come with you… I… I can’t stay here. If I do, I… I might end up doing something I would really regret…”

Tali reached forward and placed her hand on his shoulder. Seeing the expression on his face, she looked down at his trembling hands.

_ ‘He’s so weak… I don’t want to see him like this.’ _

“Are you sure?” She asked quietly.

“What?”

“Are you sure you want to do this? You won’t be seeing this planet for a while if you come with me.”

“I honestly never want to come back…” Izuku muttered.

Tali kept looking at her friend in silence.

_ ‘I hope I’m doing the right thing…’ _

She sighed.

“Okay.”

Izuku’s eyes widened as he looked up at Tali.

“I can…?”

“Yes… But you need to listen to what I tell you to do. You don’t have any knowledge about the galaxy,” Tali said, pointing at him while turning her head ever so slightly.

Izuku nodded quickly.

“I’ll listen to everything you say!”

Tali nodded.

“Okay… Now, do you need to prepare to leave?”

Izuku looked down at his bag before looking up at Tali again.

“Yeah… Yeah I do…”

“Well, let’s go.”

“Okay…”

_________________________________________

Izuku, clad in jeans, a t-shirt, and holding his bag walked through his house. He stopped at the hallway to the door, where Tali was standing and waiting for him.

“You ready?”

Izuku glanced behind him, looking around for a moment before focusing back on Tali.

“Not yet.”

He walked over to the kitchen, grabbing a piece of paper and a pencil. Taking a deep breath, he put the pencil to the paper and began writing.

_ ‘Hello, Mom. If you’re reading this, I’m gone. I couldn’t bear the pain of living as a quirkless boy, getting bullied every day and letting you down as a son. You don’t deserve to be dragged down by me, so I’m going away. I’m probably never coming back. Thank you so much for bearing with me for so many years. I won’t burden you any longer. Goodbye. _ _   
_ _   
_ __ Izuku’

Izuku pulled back slightly from the piece of paper and took a deep breath to calm his emotions. Putting the pencil down, he slapped his cheeks lightly a couple times before walking back out of the kitchen. 

Tali frowned slightly when she saw the wetness under his eyes. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to…”

“No…” Izuku shook his head. “I want to… I need to...”

She stared at him for a moment more before nodding.

“Okay… Let’s go.”

“Right…”

_________________________________________

Izuku and Tali stopped at the entrance to a forest. He glanced at her.

“Is that… Where your ship is?”

“Yes it is. This is the last chance to turn back, Izuku. I don’t want you to regret this.”

Izuku glanced behind him, looking at the city in the distance. Taking a deep breath, he nodded.

“I want to leave… Let’s… Let’s go…”

Tali nodded slowly.

“Okay…”

The two of them turned and walked into the forest.

____________________

Izuku sat in the co-pilot seat of Tali’s ship, looking out the window while Tali pressed buttons on the console in front of her. A moment later, he felt the ship shudder before he saw the ground drop away from the cockpit window. As the ship turned in the air, the city in the distance went out of the field of view of the window.

_ ‘Goodbye, Earth. You won’t have to deal with a quirkless person like me again.’ _

Izuku glanced over at Tali, whose glowing purple eyes were looking at him. He gave her a small smile, nodding once.

“Well… Let’s go,” Izuku said. “I hope you can teach me about the galaxy.”

Tali found herself smiling slightly in her helmet, not that Izuku could see. She nodded.

“I will. We’ll have some time before we reach our next stop.”

The ship pointed towards the sky and flew away from the ground as they talked, giving Izuku a clear view of the cloud cover. Once passing through the cloud layer, he was greeted with an orange sky.

“Where are we going?” Izuku asked.

“Our next stop is the Citadel. This detour took a lot of fuel, so we’ll need to refill before we can continue with my Pilgrimage.”

“The Citadel?”

“It’s a sort of hub for every species that is a part of Citadel space. It houses the governing body, the Citadel Council, which is the ultimate authority in Citadel space. The Council is composed of one representative from each member species. While they don’t have official power over independent governments, but in matters that concern all of the Council species, they have full power.”

“Oh… So it’s a united faction of species?”

“In simple terms, that’s correct,” Tali said with a nod.

She couldn’t help but smirk when she glanced over at him and saw him writing on a notebook. 

“You’re going to be doing that a lot, aren’t you?”

Izuku blushed.

“W-well… It’s my way of remembering things…”

“It’s okay. I do the same thing.”

“Oh, you do?”

She pressed a button on the console in front of her and glanced around behind her. She looked at Izuku and extended her index finger before walking over to her quarters. Looking over at the desk and the pile of datapads stacked on it. She went over and grabbed one before she returned to the cockpit, handing it to Izuku.

“Woah…” Izuku let out as he took it. “Wait… I can’t understand this…”

“Oh dammit, I knew I forgot something…”

“What?”

“You need an Omni-Tool.”

“That thing you and your parents had?”

Tali nodded.

“Yeah. That’s how you can understand me. My Omni-Tool can translate my language to yours. But if you have one with the same translating program that I have, you can talk to me and every other citadel species, instead of needing me to translate for you.”

“Oh! Um… Do you have one?”

The Quarian tapped the chin of her helmet.

“I think? Let me take a look.”

Tali walked away again, Izuku getting up and jogging after her a moment later. She walked past her quarters and into the living area. Izuku spotted a grey metallic box beside the single couch in the area, which Tali kneeled down in front of and opened the top of.

“I believe… I was given a Nexus in case my current one… Malfunctioned…” Tali said as she rummaged around the box. “Ah! There it is!”

She pulled out an arm band that looked to be as long as half of his forearm. She walked over to him with the arm band and extended it to him. 

“So… What do I do?”

Tali chuckled.

“You put it on your arm.”

“Then what?”

“Well, if this works, it should activate if you think about turning it on,” Tali explained.

Izuku looked at the band for a moment before slipping it on over his right forearm. He glanced up at Tali.

“So… I just think it and it’ll turn on?”

Tali nodded.

“Yeah, just try and think about turning it on.”

Izuku closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he opened his eyes and looked at the band.

_ ‘Turn on… Turn on…’ _

An orange holographic gauntlet blinked twice before slowly forming itself around his arm and hand. His eyes widened.

“Woah! It did it!”

“It did! Honestly, I was surprised it didn’t malfunction since it wasn’t made for your species.”

“WHAT?!”

“Relax, relax, it didn’t, did it?”

“You could have told me it could have malfunctioned!”

“Izuku, relax. I know what to do if it malfunctioned. You don’t have to worry,” Tali said, placing her hand over his.

Izuku focused on Tali’s eyes, getting lost in the glowing orbs that pierced through the tinted purple visor she had. His Omni-Tool disappeared as he unconsciously moved closer to her. She was in a similar state, staring into his green eyes while keeping her hand on his. The only thing that interrupted them was the rapid beeping from the cockpit.

Both of them recoiled and looked back at the cockpit. 

“W-what’s that beeping?” Izuku asked.

“We’re getting close to the Mass Relay. I need to input the coordinates for our destination.”

Tali walked off, Izuku close behind.

“Wha- Mass Relay? What’s that?”

The two of them arrived at the cockpit where Izuku was met with a breathtaking sight. In front of him was a large object consisting of two long, curved metal arms surrounding a set of revolving gyroscopic rings. In the center of the rings was a blue-glowing core.

“That… That’s a Mass Relay?”

“Yeah, that’s right. It’s how every species can go from system to system in hours. They were originally built by the extinct species of aliens called the Protheans.”

“Wow…”

“And now, we’re going to use this to get to the Citadel,” Tali said, sitting in her seat and typing on the console in front of her. “I just need to input the coordinates, send it to the Relay, and we will be on our way.”

Izuku nodded, still staring in awe at the Mass Relay in front of him. It didn’t stay for much longer, though, as suddenly a wormhole of every shade of blue flooded the window. He staggered once as he first saw it.

“W-woah…”

“Pretty, isn’t it? The Mass Relays create a virtually mass-free corridor of space-time between each other. We’re traveling through that corridor right now.”

“This is… Light Years ahead of anything on Earth…”

“Earth? That’s what your planet’s name is?”

Izuku nodded, still fixated on the different shades of blue appearing on the cockpit window.

“Yeah…”

Silence descended upon them, the only sound occupying the silence coming from the rumbling engines. Tali cleared her throat, getting Izuku’s attention.

“You should really sit down. We have a while before we get to the Citadel.”

Izuku jumped slightly.

“O-oh! Right!”

“So, I’m going to transmit a copy of the translation program to your Omni-Tool, and while it runs its initial setup, I’ll tell you about the different races you’ll see. That should pass the time.”

Izuku took a notebook out of his bag, taking a pencil out afterwards. Tali smirked inside her helmet.

“You ready?”

Izuku nodded, a curious glint in his eyes.

“Yeah.”

Tali activated her Omni-tool, showing a picture of a humanoid alien that looked the closest to a human. It had tentacle-like hair that was very close together and swooped backwards. 

“Let’s start with the Asari…”


	2. Destination: Citadel

“Now… I’m not really an expert on every race in the galaxy, so forgive me if I give you any misinformation... The Asari were the first race to discover the Citadel and the Mass Relays. Out of the three species in the council-”

“There’s three species? Oh, sorry I interrupted you!” Izuku bowed in his seat.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Tali shook her head. “There are more species than those on the Council, but they aren’t really... Granted a spot on the council. I don’t really know how to explain it. Sorry.”

“N-no! It’s okay! I don’t expect you to know everything. I just want to know what you know.”

Tali couldn’t help but chuckle at Izuku as he kept bowing to her.

“You don’t have to bow, Izuku. You don’t have to be formal with me. We’re friends, remember?”

“O-oh… W-well… I’m not really… Used to it…” Izuku kept staring at the floor, a depressed expression on his face.

“Then you’ll get used to it. We’re going to be together for a long time, after all. I’ll help you get used to finally having a friend who’s good to you.”

Izuku looked up from the floor, staring at Tali in admiration. Finally, a small smile formed on his lips and tears formed in his eyes.

“Thank you!” Izuku cried, wiping the tears with his sleeves.

Tali smiled softly under her helmet.

“You’re welcome, Izuku.”

Tali remained quiet as Izuku fought to regain his composure. Eventually he did, taking a few shaky deep breaths as he looked up at Tali again.

“S-sorry you had to see that…”

“It’s okay.” Tali shook her head.

“Oh… Well… Um...Le-let’s get back to talking about the different races. I kind of… Interrupted you when you were explaining things…”

Tali blinked, nodding once.

“Right! We kind of got sidetracked, didn’t we?” Tali chuckled.

A chuckle escaped Izuku’s lips as he nodded.

“Yeah… We did…”

“Well, where was I?”

“You were talking about them being one of the three species on the council,” Izuku reminded her, putting his pencil on the paper of the notebook in his lap.

“Oh, right! So, the Asari have these abilities similar to your world’s Quirks called Biotics. They aren’t as widespread as making an explosion out of thin air, but they can move objects and people around, create barriers, and more.”

“Woah!” Izuku quickly wrote in his notebook.

Glancing between Tali’s holographic image of an Asari and his notebook, he proceeded to draw a picture of the head and shoulders of an Asari.

“What do the males look like? Just like them but with masculine bodies?” Izuku questioned.

“Actually, Asari are monogendered.”

“Monogendered? Then how do they reproduce?”

“I’m… Actually not sure,” Tali replied, tapping the chin of her helmet as she looked up and to the right.

Izuku quickly shook his head, dispelling the thoughts that quickly came to his head in the silence that followed Tali’s statement.

“N-nevermind! Let’s just move on to the next race.”

Tali looked down again, staring at Izuku’s slightly blushing face. Her eyes widened as she realized what happened.

“R-right! Let’s just move on…”

_________________________________________

_ WHOOSH! _

Izuku’s head snapped away from the hologram of a large creature with an armored head, wide set eyes, a high shoulder hump, three-fingered hands, and digitigrade legs. Looking outside the window as Tali made the hologram disappear, he saw a purple nebula surrounding the ship. A Mass Relay was to the left of the ship, the end of it capable of being seen through the window of the ship. In front of him, was a much larger and impressive object.

Five long, arced structures surrounded a central, ringlike structure. Inside the long structures, Izuku could see millions of lights, both stationary and moving. They were connected to the center ring through rectangular structures. 

The center ring itself seemed enclosed, with barely any light revealed compared to the arms. From a section of the ring, a long, spirelike structure extended to the center of it. 

“What is that…?”

“That’s the Citadel, Izuku.”

“It’s so big… How many people live on it?”

Tali chuckled.

“I don’t know the exact number, but it’s probably in the millions. Take a seat, I’ll fly us into the port.”

“Wha-?”

Izuku looked down, realizing he was standing and leaning against the console in front of his seat. He blushed as he sat down, drawing a giggle from Tali.

“How is the translation program on your Omni-Tool?”

Izuku looked down, his Omni-Tool appearing a lot quicker than the last few times he practiced. A deep orange hologram appeared over the usual orange holographic gauntlet with a full bar. Contrary to the previous time he checked, he could understand the words above it.

**[Translation Program Installed]**

“It works!” Izuku exclaimed.

Tali let a smile form under her helmet.

“Good. That means we won’t have to worry about if you need to talk to anybody. Like I said before, we only need to refuel and that can happen without even needing to leave the cockpit. We won’t need to talk with anybody.”

“Well that’s good. I’d rather not have a whole station of aliens looking at me… I’d feel so out of place…”

Tali giggled.

“We’ll work your way up. What do you say we stop by a small colony to get you used to being a part of the bigger galaxy?”

“You don’t have to go out of your way for me,” Izuku replied with a slight frown.

Tali giggled, causing Izuku to blush slightly.

“I want to do it. If you are going to be spending time in the galaxy with me, you need to make sure you’re used to spending time around different species. I want to help you experience that.”

Izuku’s blush increased.

“Well… If you want to… Then I’ll accept…”

_ ‘He’s so awkward… It’s cute. Wait… Cute?!’ _

She shook her head quickly, her cheeks heating up. Taking a couple deep breaths, she took the controls and set the ship on a course towards the Citadel. A pair of beeps brought her attention back to what she needed to do. She reached forward and pressed a button on the console ahead of her.

“Citadel Ground Control, this is the Tilia, requesting permission to dock.”

_ “This is Citadel Ground Control. What is the purpose of your visit?” _

Izuku stared out the window of the ship as Tali spoke, mouth hanging open in awe as he spotted huge ships of varying shapes and sizes pass by. His gaze was quickly drawn to the largest ship outside.

The center of the ship was large and elliptical-shaped, with the center of it cut open through to the other side, with the inside glowing blue. Extending horizontally from the main hull were two large, swept-back wings. The top of the oval shaped main hull was a large spire that flared out at the base linking to the main hull. Below it was a similar spire that was flared at the base, yet it was much shorter than the one on top.

_ ‘Holy crap! That’s huge!’ _

“Refueling and resupplying,” Tali responded.

_ “One moment… You are cleared to dock in Docking Bay E-14.” _

“Thank you,” Tali replied before closing the channel.

She glanced over to Izuku and spotted the awe in his expression, from what little she could see of his face as it was pressed against the window. She giggled.

“See something interesting?”

He merely nodded, his face not leaving the window. She leaned forward to spot the large ship Izuku was looking at.

“Oh, I see. That’s called the Destiny Ascension. It’s the largest ship in the Citadel Fleet, not to mention the most powerful. I would love to see the ship’s engines and other internal systems in person, but unfortunately, only the Asari military can come aboard, along with the Citadel Council.”

Tali shrugged as her gaze returned to ahead of her. As she directed the ship closer to the Citadel and didn’t see him sit down, she couldn’t help but smirk.

“Sit down, Izuku. You can’t keep your face plastered to the window for the rest of our time there.”

Izuku blushed as he quickly shoved himself back, drawing laughter from Tali.

“S-sorry!”

Tali kept chuckling as she brought the ship past the arms.

“Woah! There’s actual buildings here!”

“Yeah. These arms are called The Wards. It’s where regular, everyday civilians of every species live. That ring up ahead is called the Presidium, and it’s where most of the politics and those of high status live. Also on the ring is the spaceport, which is where we’re going.”

Tali shifted the controls, tilting the ship while decelerating, passing through the ring a few moments later. Izuku watched the interior of the ring come into view, revealing hundreds of docking bays with ships of varying sizes in many of them.

The ring drew closer as the ship flew towards an empty docking port. Many of the lights disappeared from the window, giving way to a dimly lit room. The ship around Izuku shuddered, surprising him. As he was quickly looking around, Tali tapped his shoulder.

“It’s just the docking bay securing the ship. Don’t worry,” Tali explained.

“Oh… Yeah, that makes sense.”

Tali chuckled.

“Not to worry, if something truly was happening, I would make sure you were the first to kno-”

_ Clunk! Clunk! _

Izuku and Tali glanced at the airlock hatch

_ “Citadel Security! Open up!” _

Izuku and Tali shared a look before moving to the airlock. Izuku stood behind Tali as she pressed the button to open the hatch, revealing three aliens, all three of which belonged to the same race.

All three of them were tall, clad in dark grey armor with blue trim. Their feet had two talon-like toes to them, leading up to shins that had an extra protrusion extending upward and outward from the upper calf. 

Their waists were skinny, leading up to a relatively broad torso. Their arms looked relatively normal inside their armor, with the only abnormalities being their hands, which had two long, thick fingers and a thumb, with tapered fingertips.

Lastly, their heads had colors ranging from a dark greyish black to a stonelike light grey. Their mouths were flanked by mandibles that stretched from what looked to be just under their temples and partially concealing the teeth inside. On either side of their mouths, the upper lip overlapped with the bottom lip.

The aliens’ rocky facial appearance continued up from their lips, with hardened chitinous cheekbones, eyebrows, forehead, and nose, with segments for them to crinkle. Past the chitinous forehead were crests of long horns that reached past the backs of their heads. 

_ ‘Wow… Tali said Turians are tall, but… I didn’t realize they are this tall!’ _ Izuku thought in awe.

“What is the problem?” Tali questioned, breaking the silence.

The lead Turian’s green eyes glanced away from Izuku to Tali.

“Ma’am, I am Chellick with Citadel Security. The Council would like to have a word with this new species you have brought.”

“The Council wants to see me?” Izuku questioned.

The three Turians recoiled slightly.

“You… Understand us?” one of Chellick’s subordinates questioned.

“Tali gave me a translation program… It helped…” Izuku blushed slightly.

Chellick looked between Izuku and Tali for a moment before nodding.

“That certainly makes things easier. Would you mind coming with us?”

Izuku looked from Tali to Chellick, then to the two other Turians that came with him. After a moment he returned his gaze to the lead Turian.

“Could Tali come with us?”

“I don’t see why not,” Chellick replied with a nod.

“Then please lead the way.”

“Right this way.”

Chellick turned away and walked ahead while the other two Turians stayed where they were. Izuku followed behind Tali as she followed Chellick. Only after the two of them left did the two Turians move.

Izuku glanced behind him for a moment before looking ahead of him again.

_ ‘Well… So much for getting used to the galaxy slowly.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this mostly calm chapter. You can bet the next one is gonna be pretty nerve-wracking for our favorite pair!
> 
> Thanks to Stephano1294 and Whitetiger789 for betaing and editing the chapter!


	3. Navigating Through The Citadel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A small announcement in the end notes! Please read!

Izuku sat inside a dark-colored cockpit beside Tali. Two seats were placed in the front, with Chellick and one of his men sitting in them while the Turian leader sat behind a set of controls. Out of the window to his left, he saw what he was sitting in fly by many different flying vehicles and buildings.

“Are you okay, Izuku?” Tali questioned.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah I am. Everything around here is just really cool,” Izuku said with a smile. “This skycar for example. It’s so useful!” 

Tali chuckled softly.

“That reminds me… Why did you decide to bring him here?” Chellick questioned, glancing back at the two for a moment before looking out the front window again. “It isn’t really normal to bring a completely new species into Citadel Space.”

Izuku glanced over at Tali, the girl nodding as she looked ahead.

“We met when we were younger. My parents’ exploratory ship accidentally landed on his planet and while they were fixing the damage, I decided to explore.”

“I don’t see how this explains why you took him from his planet,” Chellick’s partner said.

“If you want to be a good detective, you should learn to be quiet until the subject of your questions finishes their statement,” Chellick reprimanded.

“R-right… Sorry, sir.”

“Continue, please.”

Tali nodded.

“I met Izuku when I was very young and exploring that world. The excitement of meeting someone from an unknown race was what made me do it. And after playing with him until the ship was repaired, I promised to visit him again. I didn’t expect to take him with me when I did meet Izuku again,” Tali said softly, glancing over at Izuku, whose cheeks were slightly red. “But so far, I don’t regret it.”

“I see… If this was unplanned, what made you take him with you?” Chellick questioned curiously, tilting his head slightly.

“He asked me to. I’d rather not tell his reasons. That’s for him to tell.”

“I see… Would you mind sharing your reasons… Izuku, was it?”

“I’d… Rather not…” Izuku replied with a shake of his head and a barely audible voice.

“Very well. I can only assume, but it seems you haven’t had the best experiences in life, what with your quietness. Though that could just be because of the new surroundings. Regardless, I understand not wishing to tell me your life story.”

Tali reached her hand over to Izuku, placing it on his shoulder and squeezing once. A small wave of confidence filled Izuku, allowing him to say a slightly louder “thank you” with a small smile on his face. 

Following the exchange, the skycar went quiet again, Izuku taking deep breaths to calm himself down.

_ ‘I’m away from them now, they can’t hurt me. I’m going to be fine now,’ _ Izuku thought to himself, taking more deep breaths.

Tali kept her hand on Izuku’s shoulder, gently rubbing her thumb against it as she watched him. She smiled softly inside her helmet when Izuku glanced her way and gave her a small smile.

_ ‘Good, he’s feeling a bit better.’ _

“There it is,” Chellick announced, breaking the silence. “The Citadel Tower.”

Izuku glanced out the window, spotting a large spire in front of the vehicle, getting larger in the window. Glancing out the left window revealed to him that the skycar was near the middle of the large ring in the center of the station, spotting the long, grey, cylindrical structure that was holding the spire up in the center. 

“Normally, you would have to take two to three elevators to reach the top of the tower, but, luckily for C-Sec, we have our own personal landing pad,” Chellick explained. “I will warn you that everyone inside will have their eyes on you. You are a new species, after all.”

“That’s… That’s fine,” Izuku said with a deep breath and slow nod. 

“Don’t worry, Izuku. I’ll be right here beside you all the way.”

Izuku smiled slightly.

“Thank you, Tali.”

____________________

The skycar shuddered slightly as it landed, the left side and the top opened up to the outside once on the ground. Izuku shivered slightly as he got out of the car and the wind hit his skin. 

Glancing over at Chellick, he was talking with a tall, skinny alien with horns on top of its long, thin head. Its skin was a greyish color with red markings across its forehead. 

_ ‘So that’s a Salarian in person. I thought they would be taller…’ _ Izuku thought to himself.

The Turian nodded once at the Salarian before turning to look at Izuku.

“The Council is already in session and awaiting our arrival. Please, this way.”

Izuku looked to Tali, who nodded at him after a moment of them staring at each other. Izuku returned the nod, waiting for her to be beside him before moving to follow the Turian C-Sec agent.

Walking inside, he was greeted with the warm, dim lighting of the Citadel tower. Once his eyes adjusted, he saw trees with orange leaves in several places throughout the room, a small wall separating the plots of flora from the steel grey floors. 

Men and women dressed in formal clothing stood in groups ranging from two people to five, all talking amongst themselves on the first and second floors of the main room. Upon Izuku’s entry, however, the hushed voices ceased and all eyes were on him.

Izuku gulped slightly upon seeing the eyes of Turians, Asari, and the Salarians land on him, his steps slowing slightly. Chellick, glancing back once, paused in his step, turning to fully face the human.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s… Just so many…” Izuku muttered quietly.

Tali placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, they’re just curious. They don’t have intentions of hurting you,” Tali reassured.

Chellick nodded.

“Your friend is correct. And if they do, my men and I will make sure you remain unharmed,” the Turian added.

“O… Okay…” Izuku replied with a nod.

Izuku reached his hand over to his shoulder, placing it over Tali’s. Simply having his hand over hers gave him the confidence to step forward, following Chellick as he continued leading him through the room and up the large stairs, the walls tapering to where the set of stairs Izuku was walking up combined with another.

Walking up the stairs, he arrived at a platform extending over a large hole with grass, rocks, and flowers inside.. Across from the platform was another, with three people standing on it. On Izuku’s left was a Turian, in the middle was an Asari, and on the right was a Salarian. All three of them looked at Izuku with great curiosity, though the Turian seemed slightly disappointed.

“So our information  _ was _ true,” the Asari commented.

“That is correct, Councilor Tevos. He was aboard a Quarian vessel and seemed to have been given an Omni-Tool to help translate our languages. He can understand everything that we are saying.”

The Turian Councilor scoffed.

“That’s preposterous. How would this Quarian possibly know how to translate a foreign language, much less code it into a translation program in an omni-tool?”

“I’m not some infant who can’t do anything!” Tali blurted out defiantly.

Izuku glanced over at Tali with wide eyes, the Councilors and C-Sec agents doing the same. She didn’t look at any of them, but her grip on Izuku’s shoulder tightened slightly.

“Quarians are taught from a young age everything they need to survive on their pilgrimage. What I did was take a program my father developed and placed it into an Omni-Tool. It’s not too difficult to do.”

“And just what makes you think that you can speak to me in that sort of tone?” the Turian Councilor fired back.

“Councilor Sparatus, please calm down,” the Asari Councilor, Tevos, said calmly, raising a hand in Sparatus’ direction. 

“How did you get discovered?” the Salarian Councilor questioned Izuku directly. “And why have you come here?”

Izuku jumped slightly under the Salarian’s analytical gaze following his question.

“W-well… Tali’s father crashed on my planet… When they were fixing it, she found me in the forest… We-uh… We promised to meet each other again after that…” Izuku said, scratching the back of his head. “I… Wanted to come with Tali when she left Earth again…”

Izuku looked down with a sigh.

“It’s not like I was worth anything on my planet anyways…” he muttered to himself.

He looked up at the councilors, having their full attention at this point.

“I don’t want to make any trouble for anyone… I just want to be with Tali and… Finally feel like I mean something,” Izuku said, hopeful eyes looking at the three council members.

_ ‘Why… Did that warm my heart so much…? He wants to be with me… I already knew that when he asked to come with me...’ _ Tali thought, her cheeks warming up slowly.  _ ‘But why… Does it feel that much more special now?’ _

The three councilors looked among themselves, a variety of expressions passing through their faces. After a moment, they looked back at the group across from them.

“We will need some time to decide our verdict. We will reconvene tomorrow. In the meantime, you will be confined to a fully-furnished room so that you may wait for our verdict comfortably. Chellick, if you would please bring them there?”

“Of course, Councilor Tevos,” Chellick said with a nod.

Chellick turned to the Quarian and Human, his eyes drawn to the hand still on Izuku’s shoulder. 

“Ahem,” Chellick let out, getting the pair’s attention. “We’ll be taking a skycar to a residential building in the Presidium. The Council owns the whole building and it has a private landing pad, meaning we won’t have any unwanted eyes on you. Come along.”

“O-oh… Right. Lead the way,” Izuku replied.

_________________________________________

Izuku walked through a cream white hallway with Tali beside him and the Turian escort in front and behind them. They passed by several doors, all of them colored white with a black border between the wall and the door propper.

They all stopped at the end of the hallway, the door sliding to the right into the wall and revealing a lush penthouse on the other side. Rich maroon walls greeted Izuku’s eyes as he walked in with Tali and Chellick, the other two remained outside as the door closed.

What looked like a large kitchen was on the right with alien-looking spatulas hanging off the wall and a pot on the futuristic-looking stove. Right beside the kitchen was a long table with eight chairs around it. 

Looking to the right, three couches were seated around a small table, with the couch in the middle looking at a blue screen. 

“This room is fully furnished, and the food was stocked to fit both of your needs,” Chellick explained. “The caretakers of this room stocked the foods before we arrived.”

“Wait… Both Tali  _ and _ mine? I thought my species is an unknown,” Izuku questioned with a confused frown.

“That may be true, but the Salarian that scanned you before we left forwarded the data to our scientists. Your biology is the most similar to Asari. Don’t ask me about the details - I’m not a scientist and I can never repeat some of the words the Salarian used - but it means you  _ should _ be able to eat their foods.”

“They worked that fast?”

“For simple things like this, they do. Anyways, if you have any questions, my guards and I will be stationed outside the door,” Chellick said, nodding once before turning and walking to the door.

Once Chellick was gone, Tali looked over at Izuku and jumped slightly upon seeing what he was doing. He was trembling heavily on his hands and knees. Tali was quick to move, kneeling down beside him and holding his shoulders.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I went through all that… I… Spoke to so many different people… So many different species… And so many people were looking at me andbeingsomeplacesodifferentandso-”

Tali stopped his descent into a panic attack, pulling him into a hug that had his head resting on her shoulder.

“I’m scared, Tali…” Izuku mumbled, his trembling calming down ever so slightly.

Tali nodded slowly, rubbing circles in his back.

“I know you are. You were forcibly taken out of your comfort zone and forced to deal with it because there was no other way. You did so well holding it together.”

“I only did that… Be-because of you,” Izuku said, his cheeks heating up slightly.

_ ‘Keelah, I am so lucky he can’t see my face…’ _ she thought as her cheeks heated up.

“I’m glad I gave you the courage to keep going, Izuku,” Tali said, her voice softer than normal.

The pair of them descended into silence, simply hugging each other on the floor for a prolonged period of time. When Izuku finally calmed down, he took a deep breath.

“Thank you, Tali… For… For helping me…”

Tali smiled under her helmet, nodding slowly.

“I’m happy to help, Izuku. I told you I will always be here for you,” Tali said softly.

“Yeah… You did…”

The pair of them pulled back, Izuku smiling at Tali.

“How about we get off this floor and actually sit someplace comfy? I could show you the Extranet.”

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Izuku replied with a small smile and nod.

_________________________________________

“Asari food is actually really tasty… It’s surprising,” Izuku said, sitting back in his chair.

“It is?” Tali questioned, detaching a small tube from her helmet’s mouth section.

“Yeah, it is. This specifically reminds me of some of the restaurants I went to with my mother on my birthday… When I wasn’t eating katsudon, that is,” Izuku added with a sheepish smile.

“Katsu...don? What’s that?”

Izuku grinned happily.

“It’s only the greatest food ever! It’s a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and vegetables. I love it!”

Tali giggled.

“Well if we decide to go back to Earth for whatever reason, we’ll have to get the ingredients to make it,” she said with a noticeable smile in her voice.

Izuku’s grin diminished slightly.

“Yeah… Definitely…”

Izuku didn’t have long to think about the possibility of going back to Earth as a yawn forced his mouth open.

“You must be tired from all that happened today,” Tali said, chuckling softly.

Izuku let out a light chuckle in response.

“Yeah… To say today was crazy… Would be a big understatement…”

“Well, I can agree that today was pretty exhausting. How about we go to sleep. We need as much rest as we can for tomorrow,” she suggested.

“Yeah, that’s smart.”

Izuku took his empty plate to the silver-colored sink in the kitchen before following Tali to the bedroom.

“The beds are probably going to be so comfortable,” Izuku said with a smile.

Walking through the doorway beside the living area, both of them froze. Inside the bedroom was a single, large bed. Both of them glanced at each other with wide eyes before looking at the bed once more, sharing a singular thought.

_ ‘We’re not getting any sleep tonight, aren’t we?’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Izuku and Tali. You won't be sleeping much at all XD
> 
> Alrighty, onto the small announcement. There's gonna be a Mass Effect March! That's right, everybody! A whole month of Lovers Across Space chapter releases! I bet you all are excited to hear that! Just about one month away now! And with that said, I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
> 
> Thanks to Stephano1294 and Whitetiger789 for betaing and editing the chapter!


	4. Court Ruling

_ Clang-clang! _

Following the knock, the door slid open with a hiss, revealing Chellick as he walked inside the room. He looked towards the kitchen, spotting no one before turning towards the living area.

Sitting on the couch, stiffly sitting up and sitting a short distance away from each other, were Izuku and Tali. The human had a noticeably red face as he stared ahead of him. Tali was a lot more unreadable due to her helmet blocking his view of her face.

“Is… Something going on?” Chellick questioned.

Izuku and Tali’s gazes snapped to the Turian’s before looking away.

_________________________________________

_ Izuku awoke to the feeling of a soft bed below him and a gentle warmth all around him. His eyes slowly opened, revealing to him the ceiling of the bedroom he had fallen asleep in the night before. _

_‘Huh… I guess I managed to fall asleep… I wonder where Tali slept… Probably on the couch…’_ _Izuku thought to himself, continuing to stare at the ceiling._

_ After a soft sigh, he closed his eyes and turned to his right, his head suddenly resting over something soft, yet nothing like the bed below him. Hearing a gentle him, his eyes opened quicker than last. His head was resting on Tali’s shoulder. It was in that moment he realized they both had their arms tangled around each other. _

_ ‘W-w-w-w-w-w-w-what?!’ he mentally screamed. _

_ Tali’s helmeted head swung around slowly, dim eyes slowly landing on Izuku’s face. The eyes didn’t stay dim for long as they immediately brightened to look like two stars in the darkness of space. _

_ Izuku’s eyes widened as well and they both mutually pushed the other away in shock, inadvertently pushing each other off the bed and onto the floor. Both of them shouted at each other as they landed. _

_ “S-SORRY!” _

_________________________________________

“NOTHING HAPPENED!” Izuku shouted.

“NOPE! NOTHING!” Tali agreed.

“NOTHING AT ALL!” Izuku nodded quickly.

Chellick stared at the two of them with an unconvinced expression, an eyebrow raised slightly as he looked down at them.

“Uuuuhh...Huh…” he said slowly before shaking his head. “Anyways… The Council has made their decision and said they are ready for you two. Let’s not keep them waiting.”

“R-right…” Izuku nodded.

“Yes… Of course. Lead the way and we’ll follow,” Tali added with a nod.

“Right this way.”

_________________________________________

The inside of the skycar was silent as it flew through the Citadel. Izuku and Tali, still with warm faces, were looking anywhere but each other as they sat next to one another. The closeness of each other in the small skycar did little to dispel their embarrassment.

Chellick, who was sitting in the passenger seat in front, glanced from the front window to the two in the back.

“Do you two mind answering a few questions?”

“Ye-”

“Su-”

The two stopped and looked at each other, Izuku’s face gaining a redder hue as he looked away.

“Y-you first…” Izuku muttered.

“N-no, you should go first…”

“How about I ask my question and you two can answer together?” Chellick suggested with a small smirk and quirked eyebrow.

The two of them looked at each other, then at Chellick before nodding. The Turian restrained the urge to chuckle at the pair’s embarrassment.

“So first off, what will your plans be in the event the Council lets you two go about your business?”

“Well I-”

“I’m going w-”

Both Izuku and Tali once again paused their thoughts as they looked at each other.

“Y-you go ahead… I’m just going along with what you want…” Izuku said shyly.

“O-okay,” Tali said with an awkward nod. “Well… I was on my pilgrimage when I visited him, so my first plan was to complete it. I was going to search for something that would be considered valuable to the fleet. But the supplies I have aren’t fit for a pilgrimage as long as I believe it would take. So we would take jobs that could earn us enough credits to buy higher quality equipment and supplies to properly complete our… I mean my… Pilgrimage.”

Chellick nodded slowly.

“That seems like a fair plan. And for what it’s worth, I apologize for delaying your plans.”

“It’s fine. You’re only following orders,” Tali replied, shaking her head.

“I’m afraid so. Anyways, onto my next question…”

_________________________________________

Izuku and Tali walked through the room outside the Council Chambers. Many more groups of aliens were present compared to the previous day, many of which were looking at Izuku and Tali as they were guided through the crowds.

Glancing to the side, Izuku could spot one Turian standing calmly and listening to another angrily speak.

“Are you seriously saying I can’t just resign and reapply? I can’t get stuck on guard duty like this.”

“Sorry, Vakarian. The Council chose you for this assignment. Their decision is final, and whether you’re a part of C-Sec or not, you aren’t able to back out this late. Besides, this should be a breath of fresh air, compared to the crap you deal with in the Wards.”

“I know, but-”

Izuku looked away as he stumbled on the first stair of the staircase Chellick and Tali were walking up, catching himself before he fell completely forward. He looked over at Tali with a shy smile, the Quarian giggling quietly before gesturing ahead.

“R-right,” Izuku replied with an embarrassed smile.

Izuku continued up the stairs, following Chellick into the Council Chambers. The three Councilors all looked from each other to Izuku and Tali.

“Welcome. I hope the previous night was comfortable?” the Asari Councilor questioned.

Izuku and Tali shared a shy glance before looking ahead and nodding.

“That’s very good. It will, however, be your only day staying in the provided housing. We have decided to allow you to roam the galaxy with the Quarian,” she said with a nod.

“Really?” Izuku asked with a hopeful smile.

“Indeed. However, due to the mystery your species still has, we will require an agent of ours to accompany you for as long as we see fit,” she continued.

_ ‘Great…’ _ Tali thought with a quiet sigh.

“Okay,” Izuku said with a nod. “Who will that be?” 

Izuku’s question was answered when a Turian in C-Sec armor walked up beside them. The Turian had blue markings from the bridge of his nose to both cheekbones, and up to his temples. The blue markings continued halfway down the length of his mandibles. Lastly, a holographic screen was over his left eye, projected from a device that stretched from the back of his head mounted underneath his crest of horns.

“Meet Garrus Vakarian,” the Turian Councilor said. “He will be our agent that oversees your activities going forward.”

“Additionally, should you find yourself in an altercation, he has the combat prowess to protect you,” the Asari Councilor added. “That’s one of the reasons we chose him.”

Izuku opened his mouth for a moment before closing it, scratching his cheek. 

“Is there a problem?”

“N-no! No there’s not… I’m just not understanding something… It’s nothing,” Izuku replied, shaking his head.

“No, go ahead and ask,” the Asari Councilor said with a shake of her head.

The Turian Councilor crossed his arms and quietly looked away while the Salarian simply watched Izuku with interest.

“Well… Aren’t C-Sec the police force for the Citadel? Why would you assign someone in C-Sec to watch Tali and I, who will mostly be traveling away from the Citadel?”

“The assignment of a Spectre, if you know what they are, to a single unknown element would be overkill for this situation,” the Salarian answered. “One C-Sec Officer, especially one with a high reputation like Vakarian, would be more than enough to handle this assignment.”

“I see…” Izuku slowly nodded.

“Was that all?” the Asari Councilor asked with a tilt of her head.

“A-ah! Yes. Thank you,” Izuku replied with a bow.

The trio of Councilors shared a curious glance towards one another before the Asari Councilor looked back at Izuku.

“Well, if that was all there was, then you are dismissed. Chellick will transport you back to your ship,” she said. “I wish you safe travels.”

“Thank you,” Tali replied first, with Izuku nodding afterwards.

Chellick led Izuku, Tali, and the new Turian, Garrus Vakarian, out of the Council Chambers. Izuku, in a moment of friendly bravery, extended his hand to Garrus.

“My name is Izuku Midoriya. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Izuku said, a small smile on his face.

Garrus looked down at Izuku’s hand before looking up at Izuku’s face again.

“O-oh! It’s an Earth custom… Sorry…” Izuku blushed, retracting his hand.

“Oh, I see. I apologize for not returning the gesture,” Garrus replied.

“D-don’t worry about it,” Izuku replied with a shake of his head.

“I’m interested in working with a new species such as yours. I hope we’ll get along,” Garrus said with a nod.

“I’m sure we will,” Tali said with a nod. “I’m Tali’Zorah nar Rayya, by the way. Pleasure to meet you.”

“And you as well.”

The trio went silent, Izuku and Tali walking beside each other and Garrus walking behind them as they all went to the skycars in the C-Sec hangar.

_________________________________________

“I apologize for the inconvenience we’ve caused you two,” Chellick said.

He was standing in front of Tali’s ship’s airlock, looking at her and Izuku as they stood next to each other just inside the ship.

“It’s fine. You were only doing your job. I’m just happy the Council allowed us to go on our way,” Tali replied.

“Y-yeah… That was pretty worrying when we weren’t given an answer yesterday…” Izuku added with a nervous smile.

“I understand that completely. And as an apology for this, your refuelling is on us. You won’t have to spend a single credit,” Chellick said with a nod.

“Thank you. It means a lot, especially since we’re not very well-off on funds…” Tali said, holding her left bicep with her right hand for a couple moments.

“If you need some money, an old friend of mine is trying to set up a shipping business on Invictus. He could use a privateer to help him get off the ground. It could give you what you need,” Chellick suggested with a shrug and tilt of his head.

Izuku and Tali looked at each other, sharing a smile between the two, despite Izuku not seeing it, before Tali looked back at Chellick.

“That’s very helpful. Thank you very much,” Tali said, bowing her head once.

“I’m happy to help. I’ll send his information to your Omni-Tool,” Chellick said as the orange hologram formed around his left arm and hand.

Tali’s Omni-Tool activated a moment later as Chellick typed into his. A couple moments later, both of their Omni-Tools disappeared and Tali nodded again to the C-Sec officer.

“Safe travels,” Chellick said with a nod before turning and walking away.

“Well, let’s get going. The sooner we leave, the sooner you can get started working,” Garrus suggested.

“Yeah, he’s right,” Izuku nodded. “That means we can get enough money to get a better ship and supplies to continue your pilgrimage quicker.”

_ ‘It’s so nice to hear him get excited,’ _ Tali thought to herself, smiling inside her helmet as she looked back at Izuku.

“You’re right. Let’s go. I can teach you how to fly the ship as well!”

Izuku’s eyes widened.

“A-are you sure? What if I break it?”

“Midoriya’s right. Maybe we should wait for that,” Garrus said with a slightly worried voice.

“It’s nothing to worry about. I’m a Quarian. Give me a chunk of scrap metal, a circuit board, and some element zero and I’ll have it making precision jumps,” Tali said with a noticeable cockiness in her voice. “I can easily repair any damage Izuku would give to the ship, should he learn how to fly this ship.”

“...Element Zero?” Izuku asked after a moment of silence, tilting his head.

Tali deflated slightly.

“I’ll tell you on the way... Let’s go,” Tali said with a sigh.

“O-oh! Right!”

_________________________________________

“Coordinates have been put in. It will take a while, but we’ll reach Invictus within a day,” Tali said, turning away from the control console on the ship.

Izuku was sitting in the copilot seat, a small, eager smile on his face as he looked out of the front window. Tali smiled fondly at him under her helmet.

“Where should I set up?” Garrus questioned, bringing her attention to him. 

“Um…” Tali glanced from Garrus to Izuku for a moment before looking back at the Turian. “We don’t really have a spare bedroom for you to use. We have a small living area back there…”

“That should do fine,” Garrus said with a nod.

“Sorry you had to do this,” Izuku said, the boy turning around in his seat as the blue wormhole engulfed them. “You sounded very against this.”

“What do you mean?” Garrus asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Izuku’s face flushed slightly.

“W-well… I heard you and another Turian talking… You didn’t sound too happy about this… S-sorry for bringing it up.”

Garrus was silent for a second before he sighed. 

“Well, that makes things a bit easier,” Garrus stated, his posture relaxing slightly. “I’m  _ not _ happy about this.”

Izuku flinched slightly.

“It’s nothing against you, Midoriya,” the Turian continued, noticing the flinch. “You nor Tali are the reason I’m unhappy about it.”

“If it isn’t us, then what  _ is _ the reason?” Tali questioned.

“The fact I have to leave my post to watch you is the reason.”

“Th-that makes sense. C-Sec is the police force of the Citadel. If you leave, that’s one less person to protect civilians from criminals…”

“Exactly,” Garrus replied with a nod.

“I-I’m sorry you couldn’t… Maybe… If we see crimes being committed, we could step in…? I-it’s only right, and you can still help people that way, even if you aren’t in the Citadel.”

“What?! You don’t even know how to fight!” Tali shouted.

“I-I can figure it out!” Izuku retorted with a bright blush.

Garrus stared at Izuku for a few moments before forming a small smirk.

“Alright, Midoriya. You got a deal.”

“R-really?” Izuku asked with a smile.

“Keelah…” Tali sighed.

Garrus smiled.

“Yeah.”

“Great!”

As Garrus chuckled in response to Izuku’s shout, Tali shook her head with another sigh.

_ ‘Please don’t let any danger come to us…’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Tali. She has no idea what she's getting into. XD
> 
> Thanks to Stephano1294 and Whitetiger789 for betaing and editing the chapter!


	5. Learning The Ropes

“So, do either of you have any combat experience?”

Izuku, Tali, and Garrus were sitting in the living area, Garrus sitting at a small table while Izuku and Tali shared the couch. 

“I have some training with shotguns and pistols. I’ve never been in anything other than simulations on the Rayya,” Tali explained with a shake of her head.

Garrus nodded before looking at Izuku, who blushed under the attention.

“I-I uh… I don’t…”

“Hm?”

“I don’t know… How to fight…” Izuku muttered.

“Are your people peaceful?” Garrus questioned.

Tali laughed while Izuku chuckled nervously.

“N-not really…”

“Not in the slightest,” Tali added in disgust.

“Is it really bad?” Garrus questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Tali glanced over at Izuku. 

“Is it okay if I tell him?”

Izuku looked down, his shoulders drooping slightly. He slowly nodded twice, prompting Tali to gently place her hand on his shoulder and squeeze once. While she softly brushed her hand over his shoulder blade, she looked back up at Garrus.

“Izuku was abused for his lack of this ability his race has, called a Quirk. An example would be… Someone who has the ability to create explosions from his palms.”

“An interesting ability. Sounds like a variant of biotics,” Garrus commented.

Tali nodded.

“The guy who can make explosions with his hands was the one who bullied Izuku. He called him worthless, a loser, and even used his power on Izuku. When I found him, he had burn marks on him.”

“That’s just not right,” Garrus replied, shaking his head. “Assault should be illegal in society.”

“Yeah, but who would believe a quirkless freak?” Izuku mumbled quietly. “Over someone who has a heroic quirk?”

Tali squeezed his shoulder softly.

“You aren’t a freak, Izuku. You are far more special than anyone on that planet,” Tali said softly.

“You must be, if the norm is having these powers. That makes you unique,” Garrus added with a nod. “And besides, if you weren’t able to manifest these powers, that means you might not even need them. Or you have a power and you just don’t know it yet. Anything’s possible.”

“Exactly. If you have one you haven’t discovered yet, that would be great. But just you being yourself without any powers is just as good. You’re still you,” Tali said with a nod.

Izuku slowly nodded, tears forming in his eyes. With sharp breaths, he started wiping away the tears, Tali supportively rubbing his shoulder blade as he curled in on himself slightly.

Garrus cleared his throat after listening to the silent sobbing for a few moments.

“Well, we’ll have to work out a way to get you the training you need. Being in the traverse, especially in the Terminus Systems, is dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Izuku looked up from his hands, Tali looking up from Izuku as the pair of them stared at Garrus.

“But if you don’t want to learn, that’s fine. Tali and I would have to just make sure you’re safe if anything ever happens-”

“No…” Izuku interrupted. “I want to know how to fight. I don’t want my friends fighting for me.”

“Hm.” Garrus smirked. “I’ll talk to some of my contacts to see if they’re able to help train you. For now, let’s focus on getting through this first job.”

Izuku sniffled before nodding once.

“Yeah! Let’s do it!”

_________________________________________

A Mass Relay floated in the expanse of space, the blue glow of the energy in the center of its rotating rings barely touching the metal of its hull due to the bright yellowish-orange sun casting light upon the side facing it. 

The ghost of a blue cylindrical corridor slowly started appearing beside the Mass Relay, the rings slowly picking up speed as they revolved around the energy in the middle. Suddenly, a small ship shot out of it.

The ship had a rectangular body, with the front tapering into a wedge-like shape with a rounded bevel at the top. Two winglike protrusions extended on either side, angled thirty-five degrees away from the main body of the ship and pointed downwards. Two thrusters were mounted on the surface of the wings, pointed rearwards and shining a blue color. Two more were mounted on the top of the main body, also pointing backwards but not shining at all.

Through the window in the front, Tali and Izuku were looking below the screen.

______________

“We’ve arrived at the Fortis System. All the readings are good, no anomalies in any of the ship’s systems. Izuku, can you check the status of the FTL drives?”

“U-uh… They’re these readouts, right?” Izuku asked, pointing at a screen on the console in front of him.

“That’s correct.”

Garrus stared at the distant plants and the sun of the system with his arms crossed over his chest. His mandibles twitched slightly as he stayed silent.

“They’re reading fine,” Izuku said, bringing Garrus’ attention to Izuku as the boy looked over at Tali. 

“Good. That means once we get clear of the planets, we should be able to jump to the Caestus System.”

“Can’t we just jump now?” Izuku asked.

“FTL drives rely on there being no gravity wells or large objects between you and your destination,” Garrus interjected, drawing the human’s attention. “Ship safety systems require you to have a path to your destination that’s clear of obstructions, otherwise it won’t work. Anyone who has disabled the safety systems on their ships and pulled an FTL Jump never live to tell the tale.”

Izuku gulped slightly.

“Oh…”

“Yeah. So it’s best we get to the system edge before engaging an FTL Jump.”

“I see.”

“Izuku, I want you to input the coordinates while I maneuver the ship,” Tali requested.

“O-oh! Okay!” Izuku paused as he looked at the mass of data on the screen of the co-pilot’s console. “Uh… How do I do that?”

Tali took her hands off the controls of the ship, her Omni-Tool lighting up as she pressed a couple holographic buttons on it. Izuku looked down a few moments later, his Omni-Tool coming to life a lot quicker than the last few times he used it. 

He pressed a holographic icon on the gauntlet portion of the Omni-Tool and watched a small screen get pulled up above it, a nebula and several named star systems showing up on the holographic screen, circles surrounding them.

“Uh…”

“It’s a map of the Minos Wasteland. Select the Caestus System and it’ll give you the coordinates you need to input into the computer. Most modern ships use a map console that’s connected directly with the ship’s navigational computer, but with this being an older ship, we’ll need to manually input the coordinates.”

Izuku nodded, placing his hand over the circle of the named Caestus System, ignoring the movement outside the window as Tali took the controls and maneuvered the ship through the expanse of space. 

A string of numbers and letters appeared below the name of the star system, prompting Izuku to look away from the Omni-Tool display and to the screen of the co-pilot console. 

“Uh… How do I do this…?”

“Press the third button on the right. It should be a rectangular shaped red one closest to the right corner of the screen,” Tali said, glancing at Izuku for a quick moment before looking back out the window.

Izuku looked down at the console and pressed the button Tali described. A holographic keyboard appeared in front of the screen. He glanced between the screen on the Omni-Tool and the keyboard as he typed. What Izuku typed in showed up at the bottom of the screen in front of him, showing the Caestus System and all of its planets once he finished typing it in. 

“Okay, what do I do now?”

“Once it’s typed in, press the button again. I’ll then be able to initialize an FTL Jump once we’re at the system edge.”

“You two seem to have it handled for now. I’m going to get geared up. Tell me when we’re in the system,” Garrus said before turning and starting down the hall.

“Geared up? Why is that?” Izuku asked, glancing back at the Turian.

Garrus paused, glancing back at Izuku.

“Due to it being in the Terminus Systems, Invictus has become a popular place for criminals to hide out. It pays to be prepared for a gunfight.”

Izuku’s eyes became the size of dinner plates.

“W-wait what?! I-I’m not prepared for that!”

Garrus laughed.

“Relax, Midoriya, a fight shouldn’t break out in the streets. So long as we stay away from the back alleys and shady districts, we should be fine. Buuuut, it never hurts to be prepared,” he said before turning and walking away.

Izuku kept staring at the retreating Garrus before letting his head fall into his hands. 

“I’m going to an alien planet without any protection whatsoever! I’m gonna die!” he whimpered.

Tali pressed a button, a whirring sound echoing through the ship before the front window was filled with millions of lights flashing by at high speed.

“Don’t worry, Izuku. You’ll be fine,” Tali said softly as she spun the chair around to face him.

Seeing his head in his hands, she smiled fondly. Standing up and walking over to him, she kneeled down and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at Tali, unable to see the smile on her face.

“I will?”

“Of course. I’m sure we can find some armor that could fit you on Invictus, if not on the planet we’re tasked with going to,” Tali said. “And like Garrus said, as long as we keep away from the back alleys and shady districts, we’ll be perfectly fine.”

Izuku stared into the soft orbs of light that were Tali’s eyes for a few moments before giving a nervous smile.

“Y-yeah… Yeah, we’ll be fine… Perfectly fine,” Izuku agreed with a smile.

Tali nodded.

“Absolutely.”

_________________________________________

“Tilia to Shastinasio Control, this is Garrus Vakarian requesting permission to land.”

Izuku looked outside to the planet below, seeing the deserts in the distance and a wall of trees on the horizon. He had butterflies in his stomach as his anxiousness at visiting a new planet made itself known. He looked over at Tali, who had glanced over at him and tilted her head. He gave her a nervous smile before looking out the window again.

_ “This is Shastinasio Control, you are clear to land on Landing Pad 1-A. Would you like your ship refueled?” _

Garrus glanced at Tali, who shrugged and nodded.

“Yes, that would be great.”

_ “You will be charged once the refueling is complete. If you aren’t present, you shall be charged upon your return to the port. Over and out.” _

“Do you know how much they charge for fuel?” Tali asked.

“I’m… Not too sure,” Garrus replied.

Tali sighed.

“Let’s hope they don’t take our remaining credits. We’re low as it is…”

“And let’s hope we can get paid partially ahead of the job to help with fuel costs if they’re steep,” Izuku added.

“We could negotiate that. But let’s first focus on meeting Chellick’s friend and offering our help in getting his shipping service off the ground.”

“Right. Maneuvering to land now.”

“Midoriya, come here,” Garrus said, beckoning for Izuku to follow him as he went to the back section of the ship.

Izuku glanced over at Tali, who nodded when she looked back at him. He nodded before looking at the back of Garrus.

“Coming!”

_________________________________________

_ Kuh-Thunk! _

Izuku looked up from the object in his hand as the ship shuddered around him, staggering ever so slightly. Garrus was in front of him with a similarly shaped object in his hand and only shifted slightly with the shudder.

“It’s just the ship landing,” Garrus said, redirecting his attention back to him. 

“It feels… Heavier this time around compared to last time,” Izuku replied.

“Strange… It could be because the Citadel doesn’t have a physical landing pad like Invictus does. Maybe the increased vibrations of landing on a solid object aren’t something you’re used to,” Garrus suggested. “Anyways, focus.”

“R-right, sorry.”

“Now, with your Omni-Tool linked to this sidearm, you can unconsciously switch it out of storage mode. Like this.”

The object, which was rectangular in shape, had begun moving a moment after Garrus’ sentence. The bottom of the object, from Izuku’s perspective, swung out and pivoted from the center, giving way to a much thicker piece which pivoted on the end of the left side. The small piece that pivoted in the center connected with the other piece before a trigger flipped out from the pocket of space that the two pieces moved. Lastly, the solid rectangular piece at the other end, separated and two barrels extended a half an inch outward. 

“Woah…”

“This is a Striker. It’s a semi-automatic pistol built by Elanus Risk Control Services. It takes sixteen consecutive shots to overheat it unless you stagger your trigger pulls, so it’s reliable in a gunfight should you need to fire off a couple shots from cover to keep your opponents ducking, and it has enough stopping power to knock down your average armored thug,” Garrus explained before nodding at Izuku. “The pistol you have is a Kessler, built by Hahne-Kedar. It’s good for seventeen shots but has a bit less stopping power. But the tradeoff is that it’s a lot more accurate and reliable in a fight.”

Izuku took a deep breath, focusing on the collapsed pistol for a few moments before watching it open up in his hand. He looked at it in awe before frowning slightly.

“This looks like yours but with a brighter color scheme,” Izuku commented with a slight frown.

“That’s because this is one of the two standard pistol bodies. The other body is generally used for higher powered pistols. But those aren’t standard issue C-Sec arms like these.”

“Oh, I see.” Izuku nodded.

“We’re secured to the landing pad,” Tali said as she entered the room. 

She stopped when she saw the pistol in Izuku’s hand.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I'm just teaching Midoriya how to hold a gun. You can never be too careful,” Garrus replied. “I doubt he’ll even have to deploy the gun, let alone fire a shot today.”

“That’s true… Especially if we’re just keeping to the more populated districts,” Tali said hesitantly.

“Exactly. Now, Midoriya, if you could just put that in… One of your clothes pockets, that would be a good place to store it,” Garrus said, turning back to Izuku. 

“O-oh, right! Um…” Izuku frowned as he looked at the pistol, the weapon compacting into its rectangular shape once more. “I’ll… Have to get a holster for it or something, huh?” 

Izuku gave the pair a weak smile, which brought a smirk to Garrus’ face and a small, fond smile to Tali’s. 

“We will. But it’s not too important now. C’mon, let’s go.” Tali gestured with her head back to the front of the ship.

“Right!”

_________________________________________

Izuku’s ears were flooded with noise as he walked with Garrus and Tali. Turians, Asari, Salarians, and even Krogan were walking around him, all of which watched him as he walked by them. Some species that were around, Izuku didn’t recognize. One of which was a four-eyed, humanoid species whose face was covered in short, fine hairs, and with ridged cartilage running along the top of their skulls and down the back of their neck. Another was one that could only be described as a short, fat Quarian, environmental suit and all.

Keeping his embarrassment and shyness from showing much, he looked up into the sky, seeing the many large buildings reaching into the sky hundreds of floors above him. Some buildings looked like the outlines of swords with bridges linking between the two sides, while others looked like the skyscrapers found on the Citadel. Skycars flew around the buildings in lanes far up above him.

The green tint of the buildings and surroundings gave the whole city a forest-like feel that was strange, considering they were all in a city in a desert.

“This is massive…” Izuku commented as he kept looking around.

“Do your species not have large cities?” Garrus asked.

“Not as large as this. Not even Tokyo is this huge,” Izuku replied.

“Is that the city we were in?” Tali asked.

“No, that was Musutafu. It’s small compared to it,” Izuku replied.

“Oh, I see,” Tali nodded.

“I told you no!”

“That’s not good enough!”

Izuku paused, looking into an alleyway as he heard a deep guttural voice. One of the four-eyed aliens was pulling at an Asari’s arm. The woman didn’t look too happy.

“I don’t-”

“I don’t think you realize you don’t have a choice,” the alien said angrily. 

Izuku’s eyes widened as the alien held a pistol to the Asari’s head. 

“There you are,” Garrus said. 

“Why did you stop? We need to meet-”

Izuku pointed inside the alleyway, interrupting Tali as she spoke. The pair of them saw what was down there before looking back at Izuku. He was wearing a determined frown, his mind having already made its decision.

“We have to save her.”

Garris, already drawing his pistol, nodded.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh! Looks like Izuku's getting his first live experience of a fight sooner than expected! But I mean... You all knew that with all the red flags, didn't you? XD
> 
> Thanks to Stephano1294 and Whitetiger789 for betaing and editing the chapter.


	6. First Fight

“Agh…” Izuku groaned.

Izuku sat against the wall of the alleyway, Tali wrapping a bandage around Izuku’s right arm while Garrus spoke with two other Turians in green armor with a black undersuit. The four-eyed alien was behind the Turians, its arms bound and another Turian in the process of bringing him to the skycar outside the alley.

“That’s what you get for being reckless like that. What were you thinking?” Tali scolded, a small frown under her helmet.

“Sorry… I just… Moved before I could think,” Izuku replied, looking down at his lap. “I wanted to save that person…”

Tali placed her hand on his chin, gently bringing his gaze up to her. 

“I understand your desire to help,” Tali said in a much softer voice. “And it’s very admirable you instantly jumped to protecting her. However, you need to be smarter in how you engage threats.”

“You’re right… I guess my plan wasn’t too smart…”

_________________________________________

_ “Izuku, no!” _

_ Tali reached out, with Garrus mimicking her movement as he rushed forward at the lone gunman. Letting out a loud yell, he dove for the woman. _

_ The four-eyed alien, surprised by the sudden noise, jumped. His hold on the Asari lessened enough for Izuku to pull her free by tackling her to the ground. He got up off of the woman, looking down. _

_ “Are you okay-hnnk!” _

_ Izuku’s right arm gave way under him as pain shot through his whole arm.  _

_ “Midoriya!” _

**_Piff! Piff!_ **

_ “Gah!” _

_ Izuku struggled to push himself up again, looking back to see the alien holding the hand that once held his gun. Thinking quickly, Izuku rolled to his back and switched the hand his pistol was holding, pointing the pistol at the alien. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, causing his hand to shake as he kept aiming at the alien. _

_ “Izuku, are you okay?” Tali asked, running up to Izuku. _

_ “I-I’m fine! Call the authorities!” _

_ “Already on it, Midoriya,” Garrus said before Tali could speak. _

_ “Where were you hit?” _

_________________________________________

“Yeah…” Tali nodded. “I was worried.”

“Sorry to worry you,” Izuku replied.

“I forgive you, Izuku. Can you stand?” 

“Yeah, I can,” Izuku replied with a nod.

“Okay, up you come.”

Tali helped Izuku to his feet, the boy grunting as his arm moved and hung at his side. He walked with Tali over to Garrus, who turned from the Turians and to the two of them.

“You alright, Midoriya?”

Izuku gave a pained, sheepish smile, gesturing to the blood-stained bandage around his arm.

“My arm hurts… But I’m fine otherwise.”

“Do you require medical attention?” one of the Turian officers questioned. “I’m sure the medics can find something to help that wound.”

“I’m not sure that you have anything that could help me… I’m a completely different species.”

“Do you have anything to treat Asari wounds? His biology is similar to them,” Tali commented with a slight frown.

“We do, actually. I can call another skycar to transport you to the precinct and our medics can help treat you.”

“That would be great, thank you,” Garrus said with a nod. 

“Thank you for saving me.”

Izuku looked over to the Asari, the woman smiling as she walked towards him. Finally getting a good look at her, she was wearing a light pink dress that went down to her ankles with a pinkish white color down the center of it. The sleeves went all the way down to her hands and wrapped around her palms while leaving her fingers and thumbs exposed.

Izuku blushed as he smiled.

“I-it wasn’t a problem. Are you okay?”

The Asari nodded.

“Yes, thanks to you. I hope your wound heals quickly. A cute alien like you doesn’t deserve to be in pain.”

What happened next made the eyes of Izuku, Tali, and Garrus all widen. The Asari leaned forward and kissed his cheek, backing up afterwards, bowing, and walking away.

_ ‘That Asari just kissed my Izuku! I-I mean Izuku! She just kissed Izuku!’ _ Tali mentally fumed.

Garrus chuckled.

“Looks like Midoriya, here, is already popular with the ladies-oof!” Garrus recoiled slightly as Tali elbowed his stomach, chuckling afterwards.

Izuku was frozen, his face an eruption of red as he stared blankly into space.

“Uh… Do people from his planet all do that?”

“I… Think it might just be him…” Tali replied, returning her focus to Izuku. “Izuku, are you okay?”

After no reply, Tali gently shook his shoulder, making him jump.

“I-I’M FINE!”

The two of them recoiled with the rest of the officers they were beside.

“G-good…” Tali replied with a sigh and shake of her head. 

The pair were silent, leaving Garrus to look between the two for a moment. He sighed before glancing over at the Turian officers.

“How much longer until the second skycar comes?”

“Ten minutes.”

As Garrus nodded in reply, one of the Turians who had taken the alien away joined the group.

“You did a good job handling that criminal,” the Turian said. “You just earned yourself his bounty.”

“That Batarian had a bounty?” Garrus asked.

“Yeah. Him and his gang have a bounty on their heads. A thousand credits for each of them.”

“He didn’t seem too dangerous.”

“He’s the hacker of the group. From past engagements, he usually hides behind cover and lets the others fight for him.”

“That makes more sense,” Garrus nodded. “Without his team to back him up, he couldn’t fight.”

“You were lucky to catch him without his friends. So who do I make out the payment to?”

Garrus turned to Tali, who was staring at Izuku.

“Tali?”

“H-hm?!” Tali quickly swiveled her head around.

“We got a thousand credit bounty on the Batarian we just handed over to the police.”

“A-a thousand credits! Keelah, that’s great!”

“Exactly,” Garrus replied before turning to the Turian officer and gestured to her. “She’ll take the payment."

“Understood.”

_________________________________________

_ Sskssss! _

Izuku grunted slightly as he looked down at the cylinder attached to his injured arm, his eyes lingering on the bandage that was wrapped below it for a few moments before looking up at one holding the cylinder attached to his arm.

An orange-skinned Salarian’s large eyes locked with his for a moment before they moved to look over his body.

“Are you sure I can’t examine you more? Think of what the previous scan could have possibly missed! I could learn more about your biology and come up with more things that could possibly assist in your travels. Combat stims, medical gel, the sky’s the limit!”

Izuku leaned away from the eager Salarian.

“Uh… I-I wouldn’t be opposed to it, but… I’m…” He looked over at Garrus and Tali. “ _ We’re _ in a bit of a hurry.”

“Sure, sure, that would be fine. Just come to the precinct and I can have your body fully scanned. In the meantime,” the Salarian pulled the cylinder away from his arm, a needle pulling out of his arm a moment later. “This should help your wound and induce a rapid healing. This formula is given to weakened Asari whose healing factor decreased due to their weak state.”

“It’s already starting to feel better… Thank you,” Izuku nodded with a smile.

“Good, good! Now I must be off. I have an autopsy to get to. Be well, human.”

Izuku watched the Salarian walk away before looking at Garrus and Tali.

“I-I told him I’m Izuku Midoriya… Not just ‘Human’...”

Garrus waved Izuku off.

“Salarians would rather focus on things that interest them. He probably didn’t even hear you when you said that,” he said with a chuckle.

“O-oh…”

“Anyways, let’s get going. We’ve taken too long as it is,” Tali pointed out.

“R-right! Let’s go.”

“Lead the way.”

_________________________________________

Izuku, Tali, and Garrus walked down another street of the bustling city of Shastinasio, the human once again being the subject of many gazes. Eventually, they were able to get out of the public spotlight, entering a rounded, multi-story building that had an empty front room.

“Uh… Hello? Is there anybody here?” Tali called into the building.

After there wasn’t any reply, Izuku and Garrus looked at Tali.

“Are… You sure this is the right place?” Garrus questioned.

“It’s the address Chellick gave to us,” Tali replied with a nod. “His friend should be here.”

_ Thump! _

The trio paused for a moment, looking deeper into the building to a large door. The thumps started slowly getting closer as time went on, Garrus slowly lowering to his sidearm as it got even closer.

The large door slid open, revealing an alien standing on four muscular legs with a massive, grey-skinned body covered by a cloth-like material over its back. Below its black eyes were multiple vertical slats situated where the mouth would have been.

“Cordial,” the alien spoke in a deep, monotonous voice. “Welcome to Veltozi’s Shipping. I am Veltozi. How can I help you today?”

Its eyes then landed on Izuku and it moved closer to them.

“With surprised curiosity. I do not recognize your species. Are you a new race?”

Izuku stared at the alien in confusion.

“Uh…”

“That’s an Elcor, Izuku. They always describe their intended tone before speaking to us to avoid misunderstandings with their monotonous voice,” Tali explained.

“Approval. The Quarian is correct,” Veltozi confirmed.

“Oh… I see…Uh… I’m…” Izuku cleared his throat. “I’m Izuku Midoriya. I’m a Human from the planet Earth. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Izuku gave the Elcor a shy smile at the end of his statement.

“Impressed. You are well-mannered, Human. With great curiosity. What brings you to my humble business?” Veltozi questioned with a very slight tilt of its facial region.

“O-oh, uh… Tali, Garrus, and I were told by Mister Chellick that you need a privateer to start your shipping business. We wanted to offer our services,” Izuku replied with Tali and Garrus nodding in support to his statement.

“Surprised. You know Chellick? And he suggested my business?”

Tali nodded.

“He said you could use the help in getting your shipping business off the ground,” she said.

“With relief. I was worried I would need to search for a courier for my services. Thankful. I will gladly hire your services. Instructional. If you would follow me, I will have my secretary write up a contract.”

“O-of course! Lead the way.”

The trio followed the lumbering Elcor further into the building, Izuku and Tali sharing a gaze, Izuku with a smile and Tali with bright, slightly squinting eyes. The pair of them were sharing the same thought as they nodded at each other.

_ ‘New ship, here we come!’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They've got their first job and Izuku's got his first taste of hostility in the galaxy. Not that much of a threat, but you can be positive it'll only get worse from here... At least in the amount of threat others will pose. You know Izuku will be training to get better after this.
> 
> Thanks to Stephano1294 and Whitetiger789 for betaing and editing the chapter!


	7. In Transit

“Izuku, could you come here?”

“Huh? Oh, sure!”

Izuku was standing in the cargo area of Tali’s small ship, the hatch wide open to reveal the orange light of the evening sun. In his hands was a silver-grey box, with three others on the ground beside him. He looked down at the box before placing it down on the ground beside the other three. 

Jogging out into the windy landing pad, he went to one of the wings where Tali was standing. A hatch in the wing, underneath the thrusters, was hanging open beside her. 

“What is it?” Izuku asked, walking over to Tali’s side.

“I want you to watch what I do when I’m checking the engines.”

“Okay, I can do that,” Izuku replied with a nod.

Tali gestured for him to come closer before turning around and looking up into the hatch. Izuku peeked inside the hatch behind her, seeing a mess of wires, pipes, and metal inside. He blinked.

“Uh… I… Have no idea what all this is…”

Tali giggled.

“Don’t worry, Izuku. This is why you’re watching me. I’m doing a regular check of the engines. An issue with this model of ship is that if we’re not careful, the ship’s heat sinks melt from the intense heat of the engines.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Izuku replied with a frown. “Shouldn’t it be built to sustain that kind of heat?”

“Normally, yes,” Tali nodded. “But this was a hastily modified ship. These engines aren’t the same that the original ship came with. This was originally just a small transport that was only capable of inter-system transport. Retrofitting the ship with parts on-hand allowed my people to retrofit the ship for FTL travel. The only drawback is the heat sinks aren’t really designed to handle the new engines and we didn’t have the parts required to improve them.”

“We might want to think about finding those parts before finding a new ship. What good is a new ship if our current one can’t survive long trips to allow for us to get the funds  _ for _ a new ship?”

Tali nodded.

“That’s what I was thinking as well. How about you and I explore the markets after we get paid to see if we can find some compatible parts?” she asked, bright eyes looking over at Izuku as she smiled under her helmet.

Izuku nodded, smiling with Tali.

“Yeah, we can do that!”

“Great! Let’s get this checkup done quickly so we can get going.”

“Right!”

Garrus, leaning against the doorway of the rear hatch, smirked as he watched the two and how close in proximity they were. He let out a hum-filled chuckle as they seemed to get slightly closer to each other as they got absorbed in their work. 

“Better give them some space,” he said to himself.

Standing straight after a few more moments, he walked inside the ship.

___________________

Tali pressed a button on the wall of the cargo area, the rear hatch slowly raising and closing. 

“Is the ship ready for launch?” Garrus asked, sitting at the small table with a whole disassembled rifle in front of him.

“Yeah, it is,” Izuku nodded.

“No thanks to you. What, did you not learn how to work on a ship in the Turian military?” Tali teased.

“I worked on a ship in the military,” Garrus shot back with a smirk. “I just spent more time on the weapons systems than propulsion.”

“Well too bad for you this ship has none,” Tali replied. “Maybe the next ship will.”

“Let’s hope. Otherwise, I’ll be acting as a hired gun and an extra pair of hands for carrying things. I’d rather keep busy calibrating weapons systems rather than sitting idly by while on duty.”

“Well, why don’t we get on our way so we can start earning credits? Izuku, let’s go. This time, you’ll be learning how to start up the ship.”

“R-really? Are you sure I can do that?”

“I  _ know _ you can do it,” Tali nodded.

Izuku gave her a nervous smile.

“Okay! I’ll do it!”

___________________

Several minutes after the cargo door had shut, the engines in the wings of Tali’s small ship slowly lit up. The whirring of the engines starting to produce thrust made the landing pad rumble. 

The ship slowly lifted off of the landing pad, the landing gear in the wings and nose of the ship slowly retracting. The ship kept increasing in altitude for a few more minutes before tilting its nose up.

The engines suddenly became brighter and the ship quickly started moving in the direction the nose was pointing. Quickly breaking the atmosphere of Invictus, the ship turned to where it was pointed away from the sun. 

Once sufficiently distanced from the system, the two engines on the main hull of the ship flared to life. A couple moments later, it shot off further into space at breakneck speed.

___________________

“So what’s Mindoir like?”

Izuku was sitting back on the couch next to Tali, watching Garrus put together the weapon he had disassembled on the table. Izuku glanced over at Tali, who shrugged, before looking at Garrus.

“Mindoir is a Garden World in the Attican Traverse. It’s mainly home to farming colonies consisting of a mix of Asari, Turian, Batarian, Salarian, and Elcor populations, with some Volus businessmen as well.”

“It sounds like you’ve been there before,” Tali commented, with Izuku nodding in agreement.

“Spent some time there,” Garrus replied with a nod. “I mainly kept to the cities, but I noticed the majority of the planet is occupied by farming villages. Our destination is most likely in one of those towns.”

“Hmm… It sounds like a nice place.”

“It is, but some of the inhabitants don’t take too kindly to people holding boxes of possibly valuable supplies. Pirate raiders are very prominent in some parts of the planet. With any luck-”

“Don’t! Say it…” Tali shouted quickly.

“What?” Garrus asked, tilting his head.

“You said stuff like that last time and Izuku got shot,” Tali replied, pointing at the Turian with narrowed, glowing eyes. “I’d rather Izuku doesn’t get hurt again thanks to you jinxing things.”

Garrus held his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, alright, I won’t say it.”

“Good.” Tali nodded.

“We should be getting close to the system. Should we get ready to input the coordinates to the Mass Relay?” Izuku asked.

“You’re right, we should,” Tali nodded. “C’mon, I’ll teach you how to do that.”

“Okay! Let’s go!”

_________________________________________

Izuku stared at the many shades of blue flying by the front window at high speed. His eyes felt heavy as he kept staring, but he didn’t do anything in response to it. His eyes slowly got heavier and heavier, his eyes closing further and further, until Garrus walked into the cockpit.

“Alright,” he said, drawing the attention of Tali and the waking up Izuku. “I’m going to turn in for now. Wake me when we get there.”

“I think we might be going to sleep soon as well. It’ll take a while for us to arrive. We should be able to wake up naturally and still have time before our arrival.”

“That’s good at least. Haven’t had a full night’s sleep in weeks,” Garrus replied as he turned and walked away. 

Izuku and Tali watched him walk away before looking at each other. Izuku gave her a tired smile while Tali’s glistening eyes softened and her head tilted slightly.

“So, want to turn in for the night?” Tali asked.

“Yeah… That sounds good,” Izuku said with a nod. “Sleep well.”

Tali stood up and walked a couple steps before glancing over at Izuku. He was sitting back in the chair and taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes.

“What are you doing?” Tali questioned.

Izuku’s eyes opened slowly.

“Hmm?”

“You’re not sleeping in the cockpit. That’s uncomfortable,” she clarified.

“Where would I sleep, then?”

___________________

Izuku and Tali stood in the Quarian’s sleeping quarters, the human holding a deep blush on his face and fidgeting ever so slightly.

“U-uh… A-are you sure I can’t just… Sleep in the cockpit?”

Tali jumped slightly before nodding awkwardly.

“Y-yes… I would… Much rather you sleep in a bed than in a chair. Even Garrus has a couch to sleep on. While… We don’t have another room we can set up for you… We have this one. And since…” Tali fidgeted, clearing her throat. “Since we have some… Experience sleeping in the same bed… I thought we could… Maybe…”

_ ‘She… She’s actually suggesting we sleep in the same bed?!’ _ Izuku thought with wide eyes.

“Y-you… You would want to do that? W-with me?”

Tali looked away slightly, her head leaning to the right.

“W-well… I didn’t necessarily… Dislike how I slept… W-with you… So I wouldn’t mind...” she mumbled before looking at Izuku with wide eyes. “U-unless you didn’t like it! Which I completely understand!”

“N-no! I-I didn’t hate it! I uh… I actually… I l-l-liked it…” Izuku admitted with a bright blush and screwed-shut eyes.

Tali’s heart skipped a beat as she heard him, staring at him for a few moments before clearing her throat again.

“W-well… I suppose that settles it, right?”

Izuku’s eyes opened to look at her again, his burning-hot face not even close to calming down. 

“H-huh?”

“We-we’re sleeping in the same bed.”

“O-oh!” Izuku replied. “Y-yeah… I guess it does…”

Izuku and Tali fidgeted slightly as they stood in front of another in embarrassed silence. Izuku gestured towards the bed.

“We-well… Uh… Ladies first?”

“O-oh! Of course! Thank you…”

Tali approached the bed and sat on it, ignoring the heat in her whole body as she watched Izuku awkwardly walk to the other side of the bed. Izuku looked down at the bed for a few moments before shakily removing his shoes and climbing into bed.

_ ‘C’mon Izuku! We’ve done this once before! We did it in the Citadel! This can’t be any different!’ _

He looked over at Tali, who seemed to be having as much trouble as he was with relaxing to the idea of the two of them sleeping in the same bed.

_ ‘Well… Her bed is a bit smaller… And… She did say she enjoyed it… And… I did too…’ _

“G-good night…”

“Y-you too,” Tali replied.

Izuku took a deep, shaky breath, closing his eyes. The feeling of Tali’s shoulder against his only served to increase his nervousness.

_ ‘I hope I get at least some sleep tonight…’ _

_________________________________________

Izuku felt warm when he woke up. Opening his eyes, he noticed an arm over his chest and his shoulder and right arm felt a weight on top of it. Trembling slightly, he turned his head to his right.

Right in front of him, resting on his shoulder, was Tali’s head. And by the looks of the glowing slits in her helmet, her eyes were still closed, the Quarian unaware of their current position. 

Having a closer look at Tali’s mask allowed him to see the tip of a slender, purple nose in the darkness of her visor. His nervousness forgotten in favor of curiosity, Izuku kept looking at Tali, searching for any more details her dark-tinted visor had hidden at further distances.

Unfortunately, the dark tinted visor prevented him from seeing anything more than the silhouette of a face inside. Suddenly, the bright slits of her eyes slowly widened, her eyes slowly opening as she started regaining consciousness. Izuku became entranced to the flickering of her eyes, the two glowing stars in a mass of dark purple drawing his eyes to them and keeping them there.

Tali’s situation was the same, looking up at Izuku and forgetting the nervousness of their closeness that plagued her the previous night. Her eyes glanced over the features of his face, noting the four freckles on his cheeks under his curious green eyes. 

Tali’s head slowly began moving closer to his, her bright eyes remained locked onto the green irises of Izuku, who showed no sign of backing away. 

Unfortunately for the both of them, their moment was interrupted as Tali’s visor bumped Izuku’s face, causing the both of them to recoil and snap them from their trance. A deep blush appeared on Izuku’s face and Tali’s face felt hotter than before. 

“U-uh… G-good morning… Tali,” Izuku greeted shyly.

“Y-you too… Izuku…”

“It-uh… It seems we… Did it again…” 

“Yes… It seems we have…” Tali nodded awkwardly.

“Um… Do… Do you…” Izuku took a deep breath. “I-is this okay?”

“H-hmm?”

“Is our… Our position… Okay? I-I think we might… End up like this again… And if it’s uncomfortable, I can just-”

“N-no!” Tali shook her head. “I-it’s okay… I mean… It’s comfortable…”

“O-oh… Good…”

Izuku and Tali were quiet for a few moments before Izuku took a quick inhale.

“U-um… Sh-should we… Get up?”

“H-huh? Oh, um…” Tali looked away, her face getting hotter. “We… We could… But… We-we could stay for a while longer… If you want…”

“Y-you want to…?”

“W-well… Um… Ye… Yes…”

_ ‘She likes this that much?’ _ Izuku thought to himself with wide eyes.

He shook his head, clearing his throat.

“W-well… If, uh… If you want… We-we ca-”

_ Thunk! Thunk! _

Both Izuku and Tali jumped slightly at the sudden noise, looking over at the door.

“You guys up? We’re here,” Garrus called through the door.

“D-did we take that long?”

“I-I don’t think so…”

_ Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! _

“We-we should get up…”

“Y-yeah…”

_________________________________________

“Woah…”

Izuku stared outside the window of Tali’s ship, taking in the lush forests and green plains of Mindoir. Small villages and larger towns were scattered about the land. A large city was seen in the distance, getting closer as Tali flew towards it.

“So where are we supposed to go?” Izuku asked.

“We’re first going to that city in the distance,” Tali explained. “We need to find out which town our recipient lives in. And usually the cities keep a record of the inhabitants of the planet.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, I’ll be teaching you how to land. This time I’ll be the one showing you, but I’ll be talking you through it. Next time, you’ll be landing. Are you up for it?” 

Izuku jumped slightly.

“Really? I can?”

Tali giggled softly at the eager voice Izuku had.

“Yes you can.”

“Then yes! I am!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh... Izuku and Tali are getting closer! You guys looking forward to their confessions? Or do you think they'll do something else to show each other they love each other? Feel free to speculate in the comments!
> 
> Thanks to Stephano1294 and Whitetiger789 for betaing and editing the chapter!

**Author's Note:**

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> [Raider867's Twitter](https://twitter.com/Raider8674)  
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